Shemar Bennett scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Bearcat men's basketball team to a 97-70 victory at home over Carlow University to open the 2018-19 season.

Tom Kromka got the Bearcats on the board just over 20 seconds into play with a turnaround layup. After a three from the visitors, Bennett scored on a tip-in, followed by a putback to make it 6-3 in favor of the hosts.
 
Conventional three-point plays by Kromka and Ryan Dutton put SVC in front by a 14-6 margin at the 12:49 mark of the first half, before Carlow went on a 6-point run.  
 
A layup by Cletus Helton at the 8:35 mark, off a pass from David Stephen, started a big rally by the Bearcats.  A score by Stephen and a three by Simmons followed.  Kyle Pope added a three at the 6:30 mark, completing a 10-0 run.   After a free throw by the Celtics, SVC went back to work, with four points from Bennett separated by a Josh Duda three. The 17-1 overall run covered just over four minutes, and put the Bearcats in front by a 33-15 margin.
 
Kromka added four late points, as the Bearcats went into the locker room ahead 45-23.  Bennett had 10 points and 8 rebounds in the first half, while recording just 12 minutes of action.  SVC shot 47.4% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play.
 
Kromka again set the tone for the second half, scoring at the 19:03 mark.  After a turnover by the Celtics led to a 3-on-1 break, Bennett scored on a dunk  to make the score 51-24.  

A pair of threes by Stephen helped to increase the lead to 59-28.  Freshman Andrew Reed got into the act, hitting a three from the corner at the 14:45 mark, and Kyle Pope added a three just over a minute later to make it 67-34.
 
A pair of threes from Duda within 25 seconds increased the lead to 40 (77-37), then Bennett scored four straight pointing, including two on a dunk off a pass from Reed.

Carlow (1-2) tried to battle back late with a 7-0 run
 
Trevoris Waugh and Tom Neugebauer each scored six points in the closing minutes, as SVC cruised to a 27-point victory.
 
Brenlee Ready of Carlow led all scorers with 22 points on the night.

For the Bearcats, Bennett's 20 points came on 10-13 shooting from the field.  Kromka added 17 points and 8 boards, while Stephen tallied 14 points with four assists. Cletus Helton had six assists against no turnovers in his Bearcat debut.
 
The Bearcats shared the ball well throughout the night, recording 23 assists as a team.
 
Saint Vincent (1-0) will host Penn State Altoona at the Carey Center on Tuesday night, November 13 at 7:30PM.