LATROBE, Pa. (Feb. 22) – Sophomore Dev Ostrowski scored a career-high 32 points, while senior Osyon Jones recorded 25 points, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead the Saint Vincent men's basketball team to an 88-83 overtime victory over visiting Chatham College in the semifinals of the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament.

With the win, the second-seeded Bearcats (23-3) advance to Saturday's PAC title game at top-seeded Geneva College.

Ostrowski scored 20 points in the second half and eight more in overtime, punctuated by two beyond-NBA range three-pointers, while Jones recorded his milestone 1,000th point, while putting the game away, with three free throws over the final 10 seconds. 

Ostrowski and Jones were joined by two teammates in double figures on the scoresheet, as Tayler McNeal scored 13 points and Jaden Gales 10.

Gales and Jones also each snared 10 rebounds to record double-doubles in the back-and-forth battle that featured nine ties and five lead changes. 

After racing out to a 9-0 lead just three minutes into play, the Cougars (18-9) led for the duration of the first half. The Bearcats answered with seven unanswered points, capped off with a Mike Iuzzolino three-pointer, but the Cougars would gradually increase their lead, eventually opening up a 30-20 advantage with just over three minutes left in the half.

Fueled by eight straight points from Jones, SVC cut it to 33-28, before Jaden Bailey's corner three promptly made it a two-point game. Another Jones bucket, Corey Harden followed with two free throws to briefly tie it at 35, before the Cougars' Blaine Gartley scored on a driving layup at the buzzer to give his team a 37-35 halftime lead.

Jones scored on the opening possession of the second half to tie the game at 37, and the teams would then trade baskets over the next several trips. Trailing 47-46 with 12:46 to go, a driving Jones layup kickstarted an 8-0 SVC run that gave the Bearcats a 54-47 advantage with 9:08 left in regulation. Ostrowski then connected on two jump shots in a 90-second span to push the lead to nine points, 58-49. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Cougars promptly countered with nine unanswered points to tie the game at 58 with 5:45 to go.

Ostrowski kept the hot hand, scoring eight points over the next 70 seconds, with two more long threes and a mid-range jumper, to put the Bearcats back in front, 66-59, with 3:57 left. The SVC margin hovered between three and six points over the next three minutes, before the Cougars scored five points over the final minute to tie the game at 72 and force the extra session.

The Cougars took a 75-74 lead on a conventional three-point play with 3:48 left in overtime, before Ostrowski's fourth three of the night, a bomb from between the circles, put the Bearcats on top, 77-75, with 3:35 to go. Chatham again battled back to tie it at 79 at the 2-minute mark, but Ostrowski connected on another long trey, and then a foul line jumper, to put the hosts in front 84-81 with 52 seconds left. 

On the subsequent trip, Chatham's Diaun Pinkett hit two free throws to make it a one-point game, before Ostrowski split a pair at the stripe to make it 85-83. After taking the shot clock down to 10 seconds, the Cougars missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer, and Gales snared the rebound with 15 seconds left, firing a baseball pass to Jones, who was fouled from behind on the breakaway. The veteran calmly sunk the first free throw to reach the 1,000-point mark, before promptly burying the second to make the lead 87-83 with 10.1 seconds left. The SVC defense then forced a turnover, and Jones closed out the game's scoring with another free throw with 2.9 seconds left to seal the victory and punch SVC's ticket to the title game.

Pinkett recorded a 24-point, 13-rebound double-double to lead Chatham and was one of four Cougars to score in double figures, as Gartley added 19 points, Elijah Sutton 16, and Simon Boyer 14.

The Bearcats will now be making their sixth trip to the PAC title game and will be seeking their fifth PAC title in program history, after winning four straight between 2013-16.

Saint Vincent and Geneva split the regular season series, with each team winning on its home floor. The Golden Tornadoes earned a spot in the title game after a dramatic 68-67 victory over fifth-seeded Grove City.

Saturday night's title game will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Metheny Fieldhouse. Ticket information will be available on Friday morning, while it will be livestreamed on the PAC Sports Network, at www.pacstream.net.