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WASHINGTON, Pa. (Feb. 8) – Junior guard Chris Klimchock hit three-straight three pointers to start the second half to open up the game as the Saint Vincent men's basketball team downed Washington & Jefferson, 77-62, in Presidents' Athletic Conference action.
 
With the win, the Bearcats stretch their winning streak to five games and improve to 17-5 on the season, 10-3 in PAC play. The Presidents fall to 6-16 overall and 2-11 in league play.
 
After Klimchock's first three pointer of the game gave SVC a 7-6 lead at the 17:26-mark of the first half, W&J used a 9-0 run that spanned three-plus minutes to take a 15-7 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining. A layup by sophomore forward Dillon Stith stopped the run at the 12:49 mark.
 
A minute later, SVC went on an 8-0 run fueled by freshman forward Sean Kett. He scored six straight points following a Stith layup, including a traditional three-point play and a trifecta with 9:14 to play in the half to make it a 19-17 Bearcat advantage.
 
The Presidents took the lead again at the 7:03 mark but a baby hook shot by junior forward Armani Fountain with 6:47 left gave SVC the lead for good, 24-23. Senior guard Dennis Bassich connected on a layup with 31 seconds left in the half to send the Bearcats into the locker room up, 35-31.
 
Klimchock began the second half with three-straight three pointers to blow open the game and push the lead to 44-31 at the 17:37 mark. He would connect two more times from beyond-the-arc on back-t0-back possessions to give SVC a 58-43 lead with 11:27 to play.
 
An 8-0 run on three pointers by senior guard Tauvon Pettiford and Bassich and a layup by Stith stretched the lead to 21 points with just over seven minutes remaining as SVC closed out the 77-62 win.
 
Klimchock posted a season-high 18 points on six-of-nine from three-point range to lead the Bearcats. Pettiford and Stith added 16 points while Bassich finished with 10 points.
 
For the game, SVC made a season-high 12 three pointers, finishing 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) from beyond-the-arc.
 
The Bearcats return to action on Saturday, Feb. 11, hosting Geneva at 6 p.m. in the Carey Center.