The Saint Vincent men's basketball team was defeated 71-69 by Washington & Jefferson College in a back-and-forth affair contested at the Henry Memorial Center in Washington, PA.

The Bearcats led by as many as four, 51-47, with just over six minutes left in regulation, but saw W&J end the game on a 24-18 run, using strong foul shooting down the stretch, to defeat Saint Vincent.

BJ McGill led the Bearcats with 17 points, while Dennis Bassich added 16 - all in the second half - and Grant Latus 15.  Latus also added a game-high 12 rebounds for his second career double-double.

Washington & Jefferson had four double-figure scorers, led by Brian Felker's 23 points, while Paul Matthews added 12 and Zach Bellhy 11.  For the game, the Presidents owned a 38.3 percent (23-60) to 35.4 percent (23-65) in the field, despite going just 3-for-13 from behind the three-point line.  

Despite Latus' efforts on the glass, the Bearcats were out-rebounded 45-40.  

After W&J jumped out to a six-point lead, 12-6, at the 14:40 mark, the Bearcats came back, eventually tying the game at 18-all on a bucket from Ryan Nelson with 9:05 left in the opening frame.  The teams would share four ties over the next five minutes, before layups from Mike Burroughs and Latus would give SVC a 29-28 advantage with 3:47 left.

The Presidents, however, would score the final four points of the half, to take a 32-29 lead into the break.

Saint Vincent came out of the gates on fire to start the second half, regaining the lead at 36-35 on a Bassich three-point 1:47 into play, before the Bearcats would eventually cap off a 10-3 run on after a pair of free throws from McGill with 15:41 remaining that made the score 46-38 SVC.

W&J would then seize the momentum, embarking on a 15-5 run, capped off on a conventional three-point play from Felker, that gave the Presidents a 53-51 lead with 8:29 left.

A three-point play from Burroughs would briefly tie the game at 60 with 5:40 left, but W&J would score the game's next six points to go up 66-60 with 2:08 left.  The Bearcats would counter with six straight points of their own, tying the game at 66 on a pair of Latus free throws with 1:15 left, but the Presidents scored four straight to go ahead 70-66 with 10 seconds left.

A 40-foot three-pointer from Bassich with four seconds left would cut the SVC gap to one, but Felker would end the day's scoring for W&J with a free throw on the ensuing possession, quashing the SVC comeback attempt.

The Bearcats (7-5/1-2 PAC) will return to action on Thursday night, hosting longtime rival Geneva College at 8pm in the Carey Center.