BOX SCORE

PHOTO GALLERY

by Mike Hustava
The Saint Vincent men's basketball team advanced to the semifinal round of the PAC playoffs with a hard fought 71-64 victory over the Grove City Wolverines in the Carey Center. Tauvon Pettiford's career-high 22 points led the Bearcats comeback effort.
 
Ralph Nin scored the Bearcats' first four points to give Saint Vincent the early 4-2 lead. The teams traded buckets over the next few possessions before a three-pointer from J.T. Schwartz put the Wolverines ahead 11-9 with 11:47 left in the first half. Ed Wright tied the game with a jumper on the Bearcats next possession and the back-and-forth affair continued.
 
Five straight points from the Wolverines put Grove City ahead 16-11 with 8:57 remaining on the first half. Saint Vincent then went on a 10-2 run to retake the lead, capped by a Chris Klimchock three-pointer to make the score 21-18, SVC.
 
After Grove City tied it on a Schwartz three, Dennis Bassich answered with a three of his own to put the Bearcats back on top, 24-21, with under five minutes left on the clock.
 
With just over a minute remaining, Sean Kett put Saint Vincent up seven, 30-23. The Wolverines fought back and scored the half's final five points and the Bearcats led 30-28 at the break.
 
The first half featured seven ties and five lead changes and the second half proved to be much of the same story.
 
The teams traded buckets early-on again in the second half but Grove City was able to take a 46-38 lead on a pair of free throws from Brett Matson with just under 15 minutes left in the game.
 
Trailing 46-41 with 14:05 left, the Bearcats went on a 14-3 run, sparked by eight points from Pettiford. A pair of Nate Rambacher free throws ended the Saint Vincent run with just under eight minutes left and the Bearcats led 55-51.
 
Grove City cut the deficit to three, 60-57, but six straight points from Klimchock and Pettiford pushed the Bearcats back in front by nine.
 
The Wolverines would not go away, though, cutting the Saint Vincent lead to 67-64 with under a minute remaining. Dillon Stith and Klimchock each knocked down a pair of free throws in the last 30 seconds and the Bearcats held on for the 71-64 lead.
 
Matson led all scorers with 23 points and Kris Verderber chipped-in with 13 for the Wolverines in the losing cause.
 
Pettiford was joined in double figures by Bassich (17) and Klimchock (13). Nin grabbed a game-high nine boards for the Bearcats.
 
Saint Vincent now moves onto face Thomas More in the semifinals. The Bearcats will take on the #2-seed Saints in Crestview Hills, KY on Thursday night at 7pm.  The winner of that matchup will face the winner of the Bethany/Washington & Jefferson game.  W&J upset Thiel College to advance to the semifinals.