Despite a valiant effort in the second half, the Saint Vincent College men's basketball team could not power past Bethany College in a 66-65 loss Thursday night at the Carey Center. With this close win, Bethany advances to the Presidents' Athletic Conference finals against Thiel College on Saturday, and the Bearcats finish their season with an 18-8 record.

The first half seemed to be a continuation of the last match-up between these two teams, with neither team establishing a distinct advantage. Saint Vincent's Dennis Bassich scored twenty-six seconds into the game on a jump shot, but Bethany's Brady Pacific responded with a lay-up twenty seconds later. Saint Vincent maintained a marginal lead until 9:36 when Bethany senior Dustin Opalka converted a conventional three-point play to take a 16-14 advantage. Tauvon Pettiford then went on a six point run for the Bearcats, scoring two free throws and two baskets. By the end of the half, Bethany held a 28-26 lead.

Bethany jumped out to take a five point lead at the beginning of the second half with a three-pointer from British Alexander. Bolstered by Reece Mabery's fifteen second half points, they would lead the rest of the game, with the largest margin being twelve points at the 8:57 mark. With only 3:05 remaining in the game, Saint Vincent began to claw their way back, starting with a three from Pettiford. Grant Latus would have the next five Saint Vincent points, to pull the Bearcats to within four.

At 1:55, BJ McGill hit a three to get to within three points of the Bison. Bassich then made two from the charity stripe, which left Saint Vincent only down by one. The Bearcats and Bison traded a pair of free throws to give Bethany a 66-65 lead, but the Bearcats had one last chance to tie.  Unfortunately, SVC was unable to connect on a pair of shots in the closing seconds, falling to the Bison by a point.

Scoring leaders for the Bearcats were Pettiford with 21, Bassich with 19, and McGill with 13. Saint Vincent shot just 58% from the free throw line in the second half (10-17).  Grant Latus had a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with 10 points.

Mabery and Nick Wilcox lead the Bison with 15 points each, followed by British Alexander with 11. Bethany bested Saint Vincent in second half free throw percentage at 83% (15-18).