The Saint Vincent College men's basketball team opened the 2020-21 season against Presidents' Athletic Conference foe, Geneva College. Despite a late push by the Golden Tornadoes, the Bearcats were victorious, 68-66. 

Senior forward Shemar Bennett led SVC (1-0, 1-0) with the first double-double of the year scoring 19 points while grabbing 13 rebounds. With 4:11 to go in regulation and the score tied at 59, Bennett made a jumper from 10-feet out to give Saint Vincent a slight edge. Geneva (0-1, 0-1) responded with a three-pointer from Matt Veynovich at the 3:24 mark to give the visitors a one-point lead. Anthony Dillard gve the Bearcats the lead again after he laid one in off a pass from Caleb Jenkins.

Walter Bonds increased the lead with 1:23 to go in the second half as he made two free throws. Bonds followed with two more free throws just 28 seconds later to make it a five-point game (67-62). The Golden Tornadoes battled back as Lyle Tipton made a layup then two free throws from Isaac Massie with 31 seconds on the clock. Geneva had a chance as Tipton went up for a layup but Bennett blocked the attempt, his third of the game, giving the ball back to SVC.

Bonds then made one more free throw to seal the game and the win for the Bearcats, 68-66. 

In the first half, both teams struggled but traded makes up until the 12:02 mark in the first half. At this point, Saint Vincent went on a 12-2 run with four points each coming from Nelson Etuk and Dillard to give the home team an 11-point lead (24-13) at the 9:35 mark. The Golden Tornadoes answered with its own run of 12-2 to pull within one (26-25) as the clock showed 6:09 in the first. The Bearcats slowly extended their lead back out and held a 34-29 edge going into the half.

Bonds and Dillard both finished the day with nine points as Dillard corralled nine rebounds. Nine total Bearcats scored on the day with 11 grabbing at least a rebound. Tipton led the way for Geneva with 14 points while Veynovich and Massie added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Saint Vincent will travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as it will face the Chatham University Cougars on Wednesday, February 10. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.