BOX SCORE
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A score by Denny Bassich with 20 seconds left on the clock lifted the Bearcats to a 62-60 win, as the team erased an 11-point deficit in the final four minutes to earn the victory over visiting Westminster College.
The game was evenly played through the opening 14 minutes, before Westminster managed to open a seven point edge, 34-27, late in the first half. The lead was six when
Brian Pizer scored for SVC with 30 seconds left in the half to get the Bearcats back within four, 36-32, at the break.
With 17:42 left in the second half,
BJ McGill scored on a conventional three-point play to tie the game at 37-37, but the Bearcats would then go ice cold from the floor, failing to score over the next 8:20. Meanwhile, the Titans added 12 points to go up 49-37, before a bucket from
Grant Latus got Saint Vincent back on the board with 9:22 left in the game.
With 4:40 left, Reuben King scored for Westminster to run the lead back to eleven, 56-45, but at the four minute mark, Bassich hit a three-pointer that started the SVC comeback. Just over a minute later, a putback by
Armani Fountain made the score 56-50. With 1:49 to go,
BJ McGill came up with a steal, drove down court and scored, while also drawing a foul. The 3-point play made the score 56-53.
After a Titan bucket ran the lead back to five, Bassich hit another three pointer to make it a two-point game, 58-56, with 1:25 remaining. After a Saint Vincent time out, Westminster's Rob Briggs scored to make the score 60-56 in favor of the Titans, but it would be their final points of the game.
With 1:00 remaining,
BJ McGill drew a foul and hit the front end of a one-and-one to make the score 60-57. The second shot missed, but Latus grabbed the rebound and the Bearcats retained possession. Fountain then hit a baseline jumper with 45 ticks left to make it a one-point game, 60-59.
An errant Westminster pass turned the ball back over to the Bearcats with 28 seconds left, and after a timeout, Bassich hit what would prove to be game-winning three-pointer, a high-arcing shot from the corner, just in front of the SVC bench, making the score 62-60 Saint Vincent, completing a 17-4 run.
Westminster called time out with 11.7 seconds left, but failed to hit a three-point shot with 2 seconds left.
Tauvon Pettiford grabbed the rebound and was fouled, but was unable to hit the first attempt from the charity stripe on the one-and-one. Westminster then had the ball with one second remaining, but a last-ditch effort from beyond midcourt failed to connect, and the Bearcats improved to 6-3 in the conference with the comeback win.
Bassich and McGill each scored 13 points to lead Saint Vincent. Latus added 9 points, while Pettiford and Fountain scored 8 points each. Pettiford and
Dillon Stith each had 8 rebounds, while Latus tallied seven. McGill had six assists on the night.
For Westminster (4-15, 1-8 in the PAC), Briggs scored 21 points and had 14 boards. Anthony Thomas added 10 points and six assists.
With the win, Saint Vincent is now 13-6 overall, and will be off on Saturday before returning to action next Wednesday night, hosting Washington & Jefferson at 8PM in the Carey Center.