BOX SCORE
 
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 4) – The Bearcats led by nine points at halftime and never looked back, posting a 77-55 win at Waynesburg in Presidents' Athletic Conference action.
 
With the win, the Saint Vincent men's basketball team improves to 16-5 on the season and 9-3 in PAC play. Waynesburg falls to 4-17 overall and 1-11 in league action.
 
Waynesburg held the lead for most of the first six minutes of play before five-straight points from senior guard Dennis Bassich allowed SVC to take an 11-8 lead with 13:06 left in the first half. A powerful dunk by sophomore Dillon Stith  and three-pointer by classmate Isaac Turner made it a 10-0 run and 16-8 game with 12:26 to play in the period.
 
The two teams played back-and-forth basketball over the next 10 minutes before SVC closed out the first half on an 8-0 run over the final 2:40 to take a 33-24 lead into the break.
 
In the second half, Waynesburg recorded the first bucket before senior guard Tauvon Pettiford registered five-straight points and junior guard Chris Klimchock added a fastbreak layup at the 18:08 mark to make it a 14-point game, 40-26.
 
The Yellow Jackets cut the deficit to 10 points, 45-35, with 15:17 remaining, but that would be as close as they came. SVC scored seven points in the next minute, including five from Bassich, to push the lead to 17 points, 52-35.
 
The Bearcats pushed through and posted the 77-55 win on the road.
 
Bassich led all scorers with 21 points while Turner added 16 points in the win.
 
SVC returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 8, traveling to Washington & Jefferson for a 6 p.m. tip-off.