The Saint Vincent Bearcat men's basketball team advanced to the semifinal round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference playoffs with a 70-58 win over Chatham University, behind strong play from Tom Kromka.
It was a bizarre start right out of the gate for the Bearcats as they began their record quest of five straight PAC men's basketball titles. Before the opening jump, Chatham was assessed an administrative technical for a late starting lineup submission which led to a made free-throw from Matt D'Amico.
Already with a pre-tip lead, SVC took advantage of the early momentum at home. Kromka netted a pair of free-throws and strong put back to start the scoring in regulation. After corraling the ball at the top of the key, Kromka threaded the needle to find Austin Ford down low to make it a 7-0 contest. Two more baskets from D'Amico and Ford made it an 11-0 contest.
Chatham was held scoreless until a converted jumper with 15:27 remaining in the half and ended the Bearcat run to make it 11-2. However, SVC's offense stayed explosive as they kept racking up the points. After a Mike Simmons jumper, Colin Neville put the finishing touches on a 3-point play from the foul-line to increase the Bearcat lead to 14.
A sequence of 3-pointers drained by Josh Duda and Simmons gave SVC a 24-6 edge with 7:48 left in the half.
Following a 6-point run from the Cougars, Simmons caught the hot hand as he knocked down consecutive threes making it a 32-12 contest with 3:27 on the clock. Responding to a Chatham and-one, Duda drove hard to the rim and converted an impressive acrobatic layup to close out the Bearcat scoring in the half as they headed into the intermission up 39-20.
The beginning of the second half was all Chatham as they began to start knocking down their jump shots. An early bucket from the Cougars opened the scoring and was followed by a pair of unanswered 3-pointers, culminating in a 10-0 run to make it a 39-30 contest at the 16:31 mark.
With the Cougars closing in on the Bearcat lead, SVC retaliated with an 8-0 run. Coy Patterson Jr helped recapture and sustain the double-digit lead by knocking down six straight from the charity stripe giving the Bearcats a 17-point edge with 13:37 left to play.
A successful 3-point attempt from the Cougars the next trip down disrupted the Bearcat scoring run, but not for long. With 10:20 remaining the second half, Ford capitalized on a three-point play and giving the Bearcats a 54-35 lead.
Shots began to fall for Chatham as a pair of consecutive 3-pointers helped them go on a 12-5 run and made it a 59-48 game with just over 4:00 left to play. After a foul sent Simmons to the line where he nailed a pair of free-throws, Jason Capco drained a momentum killing deep ball from the wing to give SVC a 64-50 lead at 3:30 in the second half. The Cougars never recovered from the Bearcat double-digit deficit as SVC advances to the second round of the PAC playoffs with a 70-58 victory, making it five straight seasons with 20+ wins.
Leading scorers for SVC were Kromka with 18 points, followed by Simmons who netted 13 and Ford put in 10. Kromka also set a new career-high in rebounds with 14, giving him his sixth double-double on the season while Neville finished with 7 boards. Kromka also led the team with 4 assists and Capco tallied 3 of his own.
Top performers from Chatham were Isiah Brown with 16 points, Logan Hunter with 12, and Alex Schoppen who poured in 10.
The victory increases the Bearcat home playoff win streak to 13 as they host Bethany College on Thursday (February 23) at 7PM. Bethany advanced with a 90-66 upset victory over #4 Westminster College. The Bison handed Saint Vincent two of its three conference losses this season.