BOX SCORE


The Bearcat men's basketball team recovered from a sluggish first half to defeat host Penn State-Fayette 72-67 in non-conference action in Uniontown, PA.

The host Roaring Lions led for the game's first 36 minutes, before the Bearcats ended the contest on a 12-6 run over the final four minutes to escape with the road victory.

Isaac Turner led a trio of Saint Vincent double-figure scorers, as he came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points.  Teammate BJ McGill added 14 points, and Dennis Bassich 13.   

Penn State-Fayette jumped out to a 7-2 lead three minutes into play, and eventually increased the advantage to eight, 16-8, with 13 minutes left in the opening frame.  The Bearcats were able to close the gap to five on three occasions, the latest of which was on a Grant Latus lay up that made the score 25-20 with 7:57 left until halftime, but the Lions would then embark on a 10-4 run to go up 35-24 with just under two minutes left in the opening frame.   PSU-Fayette would eventually take a 35-29 lead into halftime.

The Lions would take another double-digit lead, 49-38, with 14:30 left in regulation, but the Bearcats would then begin the comeback.  Saint Vincent used an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to three, 49-46, on a Dillon Stith layup with 11:45 remaining, and six minutes later, a pair of Mike Burroughs free throws would tie the game at 56.

The teams then shared a trio of ties over the next three minutes, before a Bassich three-pointer gave the Bearcats their first lead of the day, 63-60, with 3:30 left to play.  Subsequent three-pointers from McGill and Turner would make the score 69-64 SVC, and the Bearcats would then end the day's scoring on an Armani Fountain bucket with 45 seconds left to seal the comeback win.

Saint Vincent shot just 30.6 percent (11-36) in the first half, but recovered by going a blistering 17-for-29 (58.6 percent) over the second half, including a 4-for-7 mark from behind the three-point line.  The Bearcat defense limited PSU-Fayette to a 31 percent mark (10-31) in the second half, and a 37.3 field goal percentage (22-59) for the game.

The Lions were led on the scoresheet by Timothy O'Bryant, who scored 19 points, while teammate James Pratt added 16.  

With the win, the Bearcats sweep the season series with PSU-Fayette, as SVC defeated the Lions 83-53 in its season opener on Nov. 16th.

Saint Vincent (7-2) will return to action on Dec. 28th, when it travels to Ohio to take on Otterbein University in the opening game of the two-day Smoky Ballenger Classic.