WASHINGTON, Pa. (Jan. 25) – Four players scored in double figures to help the Saint Vincent men's basketball team to a 76-60 win over W&J in Presidents' Athletic Conference play.
Saint Vincent continued to shoot the ball well from the field, converting 48.3 percent from the field. The victory was the 14th straight in the head-to-head series against W&J dating back to 2010-11.
SVC scored the first six points of the game, including back-to-back baskets from junior Austin Dedert. After a three-pointer by the home team, the Bearcats rattled off the next 15 points to take a 21-3 lead with 10:39 to play in the opening half.
The run included six straight baskets by the Bearcats, which included a three by sophomore Mike Simmons and consecutive treys by freshman Josh Duda.
W&J converted a three-pointer to close the deficit to 23-8 at the 8:01 mark. The Bearcats would then use a 6-2 run to take their largest lead of the opening half, capped by a two handed dunk by Dedert that made it 29-10 with 5:52 left.
However, W&J would use some hot shooting from behind the arc to close the half on a 17-5 run, cutting the SVC lead to 34-27 at halftime. Freshman Sean Stinelli scored the final 13 points for W&J.
The Bearcats were efficient from the field in the first half, shooting 48.4 percent (15-31) over the first 20 minutes. Saint Vincent outscored W&J 20-4 in the paint. Six of the nine first half field goals for the Presidents were three-point baskets. Stinelli led all players with 14 points in the half. Dedert put together a strong all-around first half, totaling 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Saint Vincent's lead teetered around double-digits for the first five-plus minutes in the second half. Tom Kromka and Simmons made back-to-back field goals to put SVC up 47-35 with 13:52 to play.
After a layup by Austin Ford extended the Bearcats' advantage to 49-35, the Presidents again would fight back, using a 17-9 run to bring the deficit to 52-48 with 9:37 left. The run included nine more points from Stinelli, all off of three-pointers.
Kromka stopped the run by splitting free throws at the line before adding a layup shortly thereafter, putting SVC up 55-50 with 7:29 to play. A little later, Coy Patterson Jr. would knock down a three before Ford added an offensive rebound and put back to push SVC's lead back into double digits (60-50).
W&J closed within seven points (61-54) with 4:00 left but the Bearcats closed the game strong with a 15-6 run. The spurt included back-to-back jumpers from Simmons.
Kromka led the Bearcats with 13 points, while Patterson tallied 11 points. Dedert totaled 11 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocks. D'Amico recorded a double-double effort with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
As a team, SVC outrebounded W&J by a 43-30 margin. The Presidents made 10 three-pointers in the game to keep them in striking distance throughout the second half.
The win improves Saint Vincent to 14-4 overall and 10-1 in PAC play. In the process, W&J dropped to 1-17 overall and 1-10 in conference action.
Saint Vincent plays its third straight on the road, traveling to Geneva College on Saturday, Jan. 25. Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m.