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The Bearcats fought back from a double-digit deficit to take a second half lead, but fell to LaRoche by a score of 72-66 in a non-conference game in the Carey Center.

LaRoche came out of the blocks flying, and their up-tempo play allowed them to open an early 16-8 lead in the first six minutes of play, then extended the advantage to ten, 22-12, at the 8:10 mark of the first half.

Saint Vincent was down twelve, 34-22 with three minutes remaining, before BJ McGill scored six straight points - three at the foul line and a three-pointer - to cut the gap to just six.  After the Redhawks opened the lead back to ten, 38-28, McGill ended the half with another three pointer, and LaRoche took a 38-31 lead into the break.

Grant Latus opened the second half with a bucket for the Bearcats to make it a five-point game, then Dennis Bassich, who had been shut out in the first half, took over for the Bearcats.  First, he stole an inbound pass and scored to cut the gap to three, 38-35, then he hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 38.  After a LaRoche free throw made it 39-38, Bassich gave SVC its first lead of the game with a three pointer at the 17 minute mark.

The visitors then settled down, taking the lead back with a three-pointer of their own with 16:40 left, and slowly rebuilt their lead back to nine, 55-46, near the midway point of the second half.  A conventional three-point play by Latus at the 9:37 mark brought the Bearcats back within six, then both teams went on a dry spell.  Neither team scored until Saint Vincent's Nic Martin hit a free throw with 7:26 remaining that made the score 55-50.  After a pair of scores from the charity stripe for the Redhawks, Isaac Turner drove the baseline to cut the gap back to five, 57-52, then Bassich hit another three-pointer to cut the gap to just two with just over six minutes remaining.

After a score by LaRoche, Bassich connected on another trey to make it a one-point deficit, then drew a foul and hit both shots to put Saint Vincent back in front, 60-59, with 4:59 remaining.

With 3:20 on the clock, LaRoche went back in front by a point, but a Latus put-back gave Saint Vincent another brief lead, 62-61, nine seconds later.

However, a three-pointer then put the visitors ahead to stay, and the Redhawks were able to hit key free throws in the closing minutes to pull away to a six-point win.

McGill led all scorers on the night with 27 points, while Bassich added 16 for the Bearcats (3-1).  Latus tallied 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.  Defensively, Bassich had five steals.

LaRoche (3-1) was led on the scoresheet by Laron Mann's 17 points, while Joel McIntosh added 15.  Overall, LaRoche held a 37-34 rebounding edge, and the Redhawks 51% shooting from the floor, compared to just 36.5% for SVC, made the difference.

Saint Vincent will be back in action on Saturday night, hosting Juniata College at 8PM in the Carey Center.