LATROBE, Pa. (Jan. 13) – The Saint Vincent men's basketball team continued its historic start to the 2023-24 season, as it improved to 16-0 with an 84-74 victory over Franciscan University in a Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.

Three players eclipsed 20 points for the Bearcats (16-0, 11-0 PAC), who tied the 2004-05 squad for the longest winning streak in program history and are now one of just two undefeated NCAA Division III teams, and one of only five unbeaten squads from across all NCAA classifications.

Mike Iuzzolino led all scorers with 27 points, connecting on six three-pointers and going 7-7 from the foul line, while Osyon Jones added 22 points on 8-12 shooting and Jaden Gales scored 20 points and led the team with eight rebounds and three blocked shots. 

Dev Ostrowski added seven points and three steals in the win, while Tayler McNeal scored six points and led both sides with six assists.

Iuzzolino led the charge early on, connecting on three three-pointers in the game's first five minutes, though the Barons held a 12-10 lead. With 14:00 left in the half, a Jones steal led to a Gales fastbreak layup to tie the game. The Gales basket kickstarted a 10-2 run for the Bearcats, which included another basket from Gales and buckets from McNeal and Ostrowski to give SVC a 22-14 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the half.

The Barons promptly cut the tap to 22-18 with 9:13 left, but SVC charged back with six unanswered points, including two layups from Jones and a driving score by Jovany Philistin to up the lead to 30-21 with 5:55 to go. Moments later, Iuzzolino buried two treys in a 55-second span to push the lead to 41-30 with 2:07 left, before another Gales layup upped the margin to 43-30 with 1:08 to go. With 29 seconds left, Iuzzolino was fouled on a three-point attempt and buried all three freebies to increase the margin to 46-30, before the Barons scored in the final seconds to make the score 46-32 at the break. 

Over the opening 20 minutes, SVC shot a stellar 55 percent (17-31) from the field, while Iuzzolino closed the frame with 21 points, and accounted for all six of the Bearcats' first half treys.

Franciscan chipped away at the deficit in the opening stages of the second half, closing the gap to 50-38 with 16:11 left and to 54-46 four minutes later, but the Bearcats would promptly grow the lead back into double figures. Gales scored five points in a 37 second span, cashing in on a traditional three-point play to push the lead to 60-48 with 10:16 left, before his offensive putback made it 62-48 with 9:39 to go.

The Barons thrice cut the gap to 11 over the next three minutes, but the Bearcats answered back each time, with layups from Gales and Iuzzolino and a long three from the right wing by Ostrowski making it 71-58 with 6:23 remaining. Saint Vincent maintained a double-digit lead until the game's final minute, when the Barons made a quick charge to close the score to 79-72 with 50 seconds left.

SVC would then ice the game at the foul line, going 5-6 at the stripe over the final 45 seconds to seal the victory.

The Bearcats were exceptional at the line for the game, going 19-23 for the game, including a 13-15 mark over the second half, while they closed the night shooting 48 percent from the field (29-61).

Saint Vincent's defense forced 19 Franciscan turnovers and turned them into 20 points, while the Bearcats totaled 12 second-chance points and held a 19-4 advantage in fast break points. 

Franciscan was led by Josh Zimmerman, who tallied an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Yann Yoneku scored 16 points and grabbed nine boards.

Saint Vincent will be back home when it returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 17, welcoming PAC foe Thiel College to the Carey Center for a 7:30 p.m. matchup.