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Thanks to a solid defensive effort, the Bearcat men's basketball team earned a 60-51 victory at home over Washington & Jefferson College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup.

Chris Klimchock, who had 17 points on the night, got the Bearcats off to a fast start, scoring five points in the game's opening minute. 

Later, Dillon Stith added four straight points to run the lead to nine, 14-5, at the 13:42 mark. 

A three-point play by Isaac Turner, who had a team-high 20 points on the night, put the Bearcats up 21-9 near the midway point of the half, and a pair of three-pointers late in the half by Edmond Wright II helped SVC open a 14-point advantage (31-17) at the half.

Early in the second half, a trey by Klimchock opened the lead to 17 points, 38-21, but the next 14 points would belong to the Presidents, led by Zach Bellhy, who tallied 20 points on the night to tie Turner for the game high.

A three-point play by Stith ended the W&J run, and Klimchock followed with a bucket to run the lead back to eight, 45-35, with 11 minutes remaining.

W&J then added the game's next six points to cut the lead to just two, 43-41, but it was as close as they could get.  Another Klimchock score with 6:25 to go made it a 45-41 game, then Turner hit a three to rebuild the lead to seven.

The lead was nine after a Klimchock trey with 2:47 left, and neither team was able to score until the 1:05 mark, when Ben Cecchini scored for the Presidents to make it a 54-47 game.  Turner and Stith were able to hit a combined six free throws in the closing minute to seal the Bearcat win.

The Bearcat defense caused 16 W&J turnovers, and held their second leading scorer, Nate Bellhy, to just five points, 10 under his season average.  SVC also blocked eight shots, led by Grant Latus (4) and Stith (3).  Saint Vincent also posted 9 steals, led by Klimchock (3) and Sean Kett (3).

Latus had a game-high 13 rebounds, while Zach Bellhy grabbed 10 for the Presidents.

With the win, SVC is now 8-1 in the PAC, while W&J drops to 5-5. 

The Bearcats will be back in action on Saturday, facing Westminster College on the road in New Wilmington at 4PM.