WASHINGTON, Pa. (Jan 6) – The Saint Vincent men's basketball team stretched its winning streak to 14 games with a 73-70 comeback victory at Washington & Jefferson.
 
The Bearcats (14-0, 9-0 Presidents' Athletic Conference) trailed by nine points with 5:30 remaining and by four with less than two minutes left, before a wild final 90 seconds saw SVC secure the comeback.
 
Mike Iuzzolino connected on his fifth three-pointer of the day with 1:28 left to pull the Bearcats to within one, 68-67. The SVC defense then forced a W&J miss, before Dev Ostrowski drew a foul and connected on both ends of the bonus to give the Bearcats a 69-68 lead with 46 seconds to go, their first advantage since 3:34 left in the first half.
 
After milking time off the shot clock, the Presidents scored to regain a one-point lead with 22 seconds left, but the Bearcats answered right back. Osyon Jones scored on a driving layup through heavy traffic to go in front 71-70.  Tayler McNeal then stole the inbounds pass and passed to Jones, who was promptly fouled and buried both foul shots with 2.3 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
 
Iuzzolino scored a team-high 22 points, going 8-10 from the foul line in addition to his 4-7 mark from behind the arc. Iuzzolino was one of four players to score in double figures for the Bearcats, as Jones scored 19 and grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds; Jaden Gales 17 points; and Corey Harden a season-high 10 points.
 
In the first half, W&J jumped out to an 8-4 lead at the 16-minute mark, but the Bearcats came out of the media timeout on a 9-0 run, with five points from Iuzzolino and two apiece from Harden and Jaden Bailey, to take a 12-8 lead with 13:20 to go.  The Presidents answered with a 9-3 run to open up a 17-15 spread at the midpoint of the half, but Iuzzolino connected on a three with 9:21 to go, and then a pair of free throws with 8:59 left, to put SVC back up by one, 20-19. After a bucket by Harden made it a three-point lead, the Presidents rattled off a quick 8-0 run to jump in front 27-22 left with 4:43 to go. Iuzzolino then singlehandedly gave the Bearcats back the lead, scoring eight points in a 60-second span to make it 30-29 with 3:35 remaining. The teams would then continue to trade baskets over the final three minutes of the half, with the Presidents taking a 35-33 lead at the intermission.
 
The Presidents came out of the break on fire, opening on a 10-2 run to take a 43-35 lead with 16:36 to go. A pair of baskets from Gales sandwiched two Jones free throws and made it a two-point game with 13:30 left, before Jones scored four points in a 50-second span, capped off with a steal and fast break layup, to tie the game at 47-47 with 10:12 left in regulation. The back-and-forth game then went in favor of the Presidents, who rattled off a 12-3 run to open up a 59-50 lead, their largest of the day, with 5:32 left in regulation.
 
Saint Vincent promptly countered, with Jones cashing in on a conventional three-point play to cut it to three, 59-56, at the 5-minute mark. The Presidents answered with a three-pointer on the next trip to open up a six-point margin, but the margin would continue to shrink, with Jones scoring twice and Gales hitting a pair of foul shots to cut the gap to two, 66-64, with two minutes left and set up the dramatic finish.
 
The Bearcats shot just 37 percent from the field (23-63), but connected on 23 of 32 free throws in the physical contest that saw a combined 47 fouls whistled. The SVC defense also forced 20 W&J turnovers, while the Bearcats finished with a 20-8 advantage in fast break points.
 
W&J was led on the scoresheet by Alex Acosta, who produced a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Brandon Jakiela scored 11 and Matthew Carte 10.
 
The 14-0 start is the best to a season for Saint Vincent since the 1997-98 squad opened the year with 15 straight victories.
 
The Bearcats will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 10, traveling to Pittsburgh to take on PAC rival Chatham University at 8 p.m.