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LATROBE (Dec. 17) - The Saint Vincent men's basketball team jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and never trailed as it downed crosstown rival Pitt-Greensburg, 70-52, in non-conference action at the Carey Center.

With the win, the Bearcats improve to 6-3 on the season and snap a two-game skid. The Bobcats' losing streak increases to four games and they fall to 3-6 on the year.

Sophomore Dillon Stith scored the first eight points of the game over the first 1:54 of play. He opened the scoring with a three-pointer at the 19:19-mark before recording a lay-up 15 seconds later off of a steal by freshman Justin Robinson, who made his first start of the season. Stith capped the run with another trifecta with 18:06 remaining which prompted a UPG timeout.

SVC would stretch its lead to 14 points twice in the first half on jumpers by senior Tauvon Pettiford and junior Armani Fountain, the last coming with 5:43 remaining to make the score 26-12. UPG used an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to 28-20, before Robinson scored a layup with 1:19 remaining following a missed dunk by the Bobcats. The two teams went into halftime with SVC leading, 32-22.

In the second half, the hosts expanded the lead to as many as 21 points, 60-39, which included a 12-4 run, capped off by a Pettiford jumper at the 8:39-mark.

Pettiford led four SVC players in double-digits with 15 points on 7-of-13 from the floor. Stith finished with a season-high 14 points while Fountain and senior Dennis Bassich chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively. Fountain posted team highs of seven rebounds and four blocks in the win.

In his debut in a Bearcat uniform, junior guard Chris Klimchock scored three points and recorded team bests of four steals and three assists.

Tiere Phillips led all scorers in the game with 16 points for the Bobcats. David Palmer finished with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.

For the game, UPG held a slight, 36-35, rebound advantage. SVC connected on 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field while holding the guests under 40 percent (21-of-53; 39.6 percent).

The Bearcats return to action tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, Dec. 18, traveling to Penn State-Fayette for a 1 p.m. tip-off.