BOX SCORE
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BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (Jan. 11) – Behind four players in double figures, the Bearcats earned a 90-76 win over Geneva in Presidents' Athletic Conference play at Metheny Fieldhouse.
With the win, the Saint Vincent men's basketball team improves to 11-4 this season and 4-2 in PAC action. The Golden Tornadoes fall to 3-11 on the year, with a 2-4 mark in conference play.
Just under five minutes into the game with SVC holding an 8-7 lead, the Bearcats embarked on a 17-5 run over the next six-plus minutes, highlighted by seven points by sophomore
Isaac Turner and four points by senior, and PAC Player of the Week,
Dennis Bassich, to stretch the lead to 25-12.
After back-and-forth play over the next 10 minutes, senior
Ryan Nelson capped the first-half scoring with a trifecta with 1:14 remaining in the period to send SVC into the locker room with a 40-30 lead.
Both teams traded buckets to start the second half before sophomore
Dillon Stith registered a thunderous dunk at the 16:25-mark to put the Bearcats ahead by 12 points, 49-37. Geneva cut the lead to seven points, 61-54, with 9:36 to play, followed by five-straight points from Stith on a jumper and traditional three-point play.
Bassich scored the next six points for SVC on a layup, three pointer and free throw to build the lead back to 12 points, 72-60, with 5:40 remaining. At the 4:31-mark junior
Chris Klimchock sparked the Bearcats on a 7-2 run over the next 2:02 to put SVC ahead, 81-65, the largest lead of the game. During the run, Klimchock posted six of the seven Bearcat points. SVC scored eight points over the final minute of play, including six at the free-throw line, to seal the game, 90-76.
Bassich led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-17 from the field. Turner posted 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting while Stith recorded a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Klimchock added a season-best 15 points and tallied four assists in the win.
Matt Lorello led Geneva with 21 points while Lambros Svingos and Drew Santarsiero chipped in 17 and 13 points, respectively.
For the game, SVC shot 60.0 percent (33-of-55) from the field while Geneva made 47.6 percent (30-of-63) from the floor. The Golden Tornadoes out-rebounded the Bearcats, 36-32.
The Bearcats return home on Saturday, Jan. 14 to host Thomas More at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the PAC Sports Network as part of the conference's Game of the Week.