GREENVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 10) – Five Bearcats scored in double figures as the Saint Vincent men's basketball team held on for a 77-74 victory over Thiel College in Presidents' Athletic Conference play at the Beeghly Gymnasium.
Saint Vincent improved to 15-8 overall and 12-4 in conference play. The loss dropped Thiel to 6-15 overall and 4-12 in PAC play. The loss was the seventh in the past eight games for the Tomcats.
A slow start from Saint Vincent offensively helped Thiel build an early lead. A three-pointer by Tyreik Burton gave the Tomcats a 9-1 lead just in front of the first media timeout.
Josh Duda helped the Bearcats respond with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 11-11 with 11:42 left in the first half. Duda helped convert a layup off of a steal by the Bearcat defense to start the run. The sophomore would tack on a made three-pointer to end the run and tie the contest.
After Thiel was able to regain the lead over the next couple of minutes, another trey by Duda tied the game at 20-20 with 9:13 to play first half. Back-to-back layups by Jason Capco helped SVC take its first lead at 24-20 at the 8:07 mark.
Saint Vincent held the lead for the remainder of the half. A pair of free throws by Matt D'Amico made it 32-27 with 3:43 left in the first half.
A little later, Mike Simmons knocked down a pair at the line to extend the lead to 36-30 at the 1:44 mark. Looking like they would enter the halftime with a lead, Thiel rallied with six straight points to tie the score at 36-36 after 20 minutes.
Thiel regained its lead with a jumper in the opening minute of the second half. The two teams would exchange baskets with the Tomcats holding a 42-40 edge with 17:46 to play. Duda would drain another three to give SVC a 43-42 advantage, its first lead of the second half.
A three-point play by D'Amico would extend the lead to four points (50-46) with 14:04 to play. Two more baskets would push the lead to eight points for Saint Vincent. However, Thiel would respond with six straight points to cut the deficit to 54-52.
Saint Vincent would use a 12-4 run to extend the lead to double digits at 66-56 with 6:07 left in the second half. D'Amico played a big part of the run, using a three-point play and a pair of free throws to power SVC to the advantage.
A pair of free throws by Austin Dedert made it 70-62 with 4:21 to play. However, Thiel used a 9-0 run, including a three-pointer to take a 71-70 lead with 1:54 to play. Saint Vincent was held without a field goal for more than four minutes during the Thiel run.
Tom Kromka converted a free throw to tie the game then tacked on a go-ahead layup to make it 73-71 SVC with 44 seconds left. Saint Vincent did enough at the free throw line down the stretch to secure the victory.
Capco finished with a team-high in points (17) and rebounds (7). Kromka added 16 points and six rebounds. D'Amico (14), Duda (11) and Dedert (10) each finished in double figures in the scoring column as well.
Both teams shot the ball well from the field, as SVC converted 50.9 percent while Thiel made 50 percent of its shots. The major advantages for the Bearcats came at the free throw line, as SVC converted 20-25 at the line while Thiel made just 11 of 26 at the charity stripe. SVC held a major edge in rebounding (43-25).
Saint Vincent hosts first place Thomas More on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at the Carey Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.