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Dennis Bassich scored a career-high 33 points, including 8 three-pointers, to lead the Bearcats to a 76-68 victory over visiting Washington & Jefferson College.

The game was a defensive battle in the early going, with the score tied, 4-4, through the first five minutes of play.  Bassich then entered the game and hit two quick three-pointers in a 20 second span to make it a 10-4 game. 

However, the next six points belonged to the Presidents, before Bassich hit another three to put SVC in front, 13-10. 

After another score by W&J, Bassich hit his fourth consecutive trey to make it a 16-12 game, and after the visitors answered with a three-pointer of their own, Bassich drove the lane and ran his total to 14 of SVC's 18 points.

Strong play by Ralph Nin, who scored 6 first-half points, along with another three by Bassich, helped Saint Vincent to build a 12-point advantage, 33-21, with just 2:33 left in the half.  However, the Presidents refused to give up, scoring the final six points of the half to make it 33-27.

Just over three minutes into the second half, W&J completed the comeback, taking a 36-35 lead.  They eventually ran their lead to three, 40-37, before buckets by Armani Fountain and Tauvon Pettiford returned the lead to the Bearcat side of the ledger.

The lead bounced back and forth several times from there, with the Presidents scoring in transition with 12:30 left in the second half to tie the game at 49-49.  The next nine points, however, would belong to the Bearcats, as four different players scored  -- including Bassich, who hit his seventh three-pointer of the night -- as the hosts went up 58-49.

Once again, W&J would not quit, as an RJ Pilato putback at the 7:15 mark made it a four-point game, 60-56, before Bassich hit his eighth and final trey of the night to make it 63-56.

After that, the Presidents went on a 6-0 run over the next 2:15 to cut the gap to just a point, but Pettiford hit a key three-pointer with less than five minutes remaining, making the score 66-62. 

With just under three minutes left, W&J scored to make it 66-64, before Chris Klimchock was fouled and hit a pair of free throws for his first points of the night at the 2:21 mark.

Klimchock, who had a game-high six assists, then took control of the offense, hitting a three with just 47 seconds left, making it a 71-66 SVC lead.  Klimchock and Dillon Stith added two free throws each in the closing seconds to seal the win.

Bassich's top career performance came thanks to 10-for-16 shooting from the floor, including 8-14 outside the arc.  He was a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.  Pettiford added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Nin recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 boards.

As a team, SVC hit 16 of 19 free throws on the night, and hit 10 of 24 shots from outside the arc.

Andy Carter had 23 points for the Presidents, while Pilato added 13.

With the win, SVC is now 10-4 on the season overall, 3-2 in the PAC.  W&J falls to 5-9 (1-4 PAC).