JAMAICA, N.Y. (Dec. 14) - The Saint Vincent men's basketball nearly overcame a double-digit halftime deficit before falling by a narrow 82-80 score to Saint Mary's College of Maryland in the opening game of the York College (N.Y.) Invitational. 

Five Bearcats finished in double figures in scoring despite the loss. Leading the way was senior forward Tom Kromka, who posted team highs in points (20), rebounds (10) and blocks (4). Sophomore guard David Stephen added 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals to fill the stat sheet.

Senior guard Mike Simmons (11) and junior guard Josh Duda (10) were strong from behind the three-point line. Freshman guard Andrew Reed put together a strong performance, tallying 11 points on 4-of-4 from the field including 3-of-3 from distance. 

The Bearcats fell behind early and had to fight back the entire game. Saint Mary's of Maryland built early leads of 13-2 and 21-6 within the first seven minutes of the contest. The Seahawks would stretch the lead to as many as 19 points (44-25) late in the first half before taking a 51-35 edge into the break. 

Saint Vincent continued to fight its way back into the game, using a 19-8 run to open the second half. The run trimmed the deficit to 59-54 with 14:03 to play in the second session. After seeing the Seahawks extend the lead back into double digits, a three by Kyle Pope with 6:50 remaining made it 74-67. 

A little later, a layup by Stephen would cut the deficit to four points (79-75) with just 1:36 showing on the clock. The lead would remain at four until Stephen connected on a three-pointer with 18 seconds left. The trey by Stephen brought SVC within one (81-80) but that's as close as they would get. St. Mary's split a pair of free throws to make it 82-80 and held on for the victory. 

The Seahawks held significant advantages in points off of turnovers (27-8) and points in the paint (42-31). Both teams shot the ball well from the field, as both converted more than 50 percent of their attempts in the contest. St. Mary's connected on 62.5 percent from the field in the first half, while SVC was extremely effective from three-point distance, making 11 of 18 attempts (61.1 percent). 

Spencer Schultz led all scorers with 23 points for the Seahawks. The loss stops SVC's winning streak at five games. The Bearcats drop to 8-2 overall while the Seahawks improve to 3-6 for the season.

Saint Vincent returns to action on Saturday (Dec. 14) when they face Clarks Summit University in the consolation game of the York (N.Y.) Invitational. Tip off is scheduled for 1 p.m.