The Saint Vincent men's basketball team defeated Washington & Jefferson for the second time this season, winning 61-53 in a Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup in the Carey Center.

Kyle Evans started the game in fine fashion for the Bearcats, scoring on a layup after a behind the back dribble, followed by a three-pointer, giving SVC a quick 5-0 lead.
 
The visitors fought back, tying the game at 7-7 at the 14:45 mark, but the Bearcats scored the game's next 9 points.  First, Shemar Bennett scored on a drive through the lane, then Tom Kromka hit a jumper from 15 feet away, followed by an Austin Dedert layup.  After a free throw, Colin Neville battled in the paint and scored on a tip-in, giving SVC the 16-7 lead near the midway point of the first half.
 
The Presidents eventually cut the gap to four, 20-16, but Kromka earned two points on a third-try effort, drawing a foul and completing the three-point play. 

The Bearcats led 27-21 at the half, led by Kromka with 7 points. 
 
Dedert came out strong to start the second half with a conventional three-point play.  Later, a jumper from Jason Capco and a Matt D'Amico score off an inside flip from Evans made it a 10-point game, 34-24 at the 15:40 mark.  After a Presidents' basket, Mike Simmons hit a three to run the lead to 11.
 
Near the 13-minute mark, Bennett scored on a drive, then Dedert added another basket to make it a 13-point game, 43-30.
 
The lead got as high as 16, but the Presidents slowly chipped away, reducing the margin to just seven, 54-47, after a Brian Lindquist layup with 2:31 remaining. 
 
A hard-fought second chance score by Kromka on the next possession made it 56-47, and a block by Dedert stopped a potential scoring chance for W&J and led to a pair of shots from the charity stripe by Evans.
 
The Presidents were unable to come back from the deficit, as SVC hit free throws in the closing minute to secure the win.

Kromka led the Bearcats with 11 points, while Evans tallied 8.  Dedert, Capco and D'Amico had 7 points each.  Evans led the team with 5 rebounds.  For W&J, Lindquist led all scorers with 23 points and 10 rebounds. 
 
SVC is now 9-2 in the conference, 12-6 overall, while W&J falls to 3-15 overall, 2-9 in the PAC.
 
The Bearcats will host Geneva College on Saturday (January 27) at 6PM.