LATROBE, Pa. (Feb. 17) - The Saint Vincent men's basketball team suffered a 62-59 setback to visiting Westminster College in the regular season finale at the Carey Center. 

The loss drops Saint Vincent to 16-9 overall and 13-5 in Presidents' Athletic Conference action. The win moves Westminster to 18-7 overall and 12-6 in league contests. 

Saint Vincent opened the game strong offensively, getting a three-pointer from senior Matt D'Amico on the opening possession for the Bearcats. After back-to-back layups from the Titans, Tom Kromka converted two straight layups to give SVC a 7-4 lead with 17:25 left in the first half.

Westminster used a 10-3 run, which included six points from Cameron Kane-Johnson, to take a 14-10 lead over SVC at the 12:02 mark of the opening half. The Titans would hold then lead for nearly seven minutes before freshman David Stephen converted a pair of free throws to give SVC a 20-19 advantage with 5:50 to play in the half. Stephen would then add a jumper before Kane-Johnson hit a three to tie the game at 22-22 with 4:25 to play in the half. 

The Titans would use a 10-4 run to take a 32-26 advantage into the halftime break. Kane-Johnson led all scorers with 15 points in the first half. 

Saint Vincent would surge back early in the second half, regaining a 38-36 lead with a 12-4 run over the first three-plus minutes. D'Amico and Austin Dedert combined for eight of the points during the run. From there, the contest went back and forth, with neither team holding a lead of more than three points over the final 17 minutes of the game. 

After a layup by Westminster gave them a 43-42 lead with 13:28 to play, D'Amico countered with back-to-back field goals, making it 46-43 in favor of Saint Vincent with 11:40 to play. The Titans tied the Bearcats several times over the next three minutes until taking a 49-48 lead with 7:40 left. With the game tied at 50-50, Westminster converted a three-point play the old fashioned way to take a three-point lead with 4:34 to play. Shemar Bennett answered for Saint Vincent with a three-point play of his own, helping SVC tie the game at 53-53 at the 4:10 mark. 

Both team battled back and forth for the next several minutes. A pair of free throws by Bennett gave SVC a 58-57 lead with just 1:39 left. The Titans used an offensive rebound and putback by Jarrett Vrabel to take the lead for good with 1:14 left. Saint Vincent had a chance to tie the game at the free throw line late. However, the Bearcats split the pair at the line to make it 60-59 with eight seconds left. Westminster made two free throws and held Saint Vincent without a shot on the final possession. 

Kane-Johnson led all scorers with 28 points in the contest. D'Amico led SVC with 14 points, while Kromka added 12 points and nine rebounds to fall just short of a double-double. Dedert added 10 points and seven rebounds in his final regular season appearance at the Carey Center. Kyle Evans paced all players with a game-high four assists. 

Saint Vincent converted 46.7 percent from the field but committed 18 turnovers in the loss. The Bearcats held a slight 34-33 advantage in rebounding. 

The Bearcats honored D'Amico, Dedert, Jason Capco and Coy Patterson Jr. before the Senior Day contest at the Carey Center. 

Saint Vincent will enter next week's PAC Tournament as the #3 seed. The Bearcats will host #6 seed Geneva College on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at the Carey Center. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. between the Bearcats and Golden Tornadoes.