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The Saint Vincent men's basketball team lost a non-conference game on the road at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA by a score of 77-71.

Scores by Dillon Stith and JC Howard gave SVC an early 4-2 lead just one minute into the game, but the hosts would take the lead less than a minute later and continue to build momentum throughout the next 10 minutes.

Down 23-16, Stith drove through the lane and scored to cut the margin back to five with less than 7 minutes remaining.  After another Juniata score, Isaac Turner hit a three-pointer to make it a four-point game, 25-21, with 4:25 left in the first half.

Stith later scored to cut the gap to just two, 25-23 with just under four minutes remaining, but the Golden Eagles once again managed to run the lead to seven, 32-25, with 1:55 to go.  A three by Turner with 1:25 left ended the scoring in the first half, with SVC down 32-28.

Juniata quickly extended the lead to its largest of the game, nine points (37-28) just over a minute into the second half.  Despite strong play from Stith and Turner, the hosts ran the lead to sixteen (55-39) at the midway point of the half, as only four Bearcats had hit the scoresheet at that point.

Slowly, SVC started to mount a comeback.  Down 14, Kett hit a pair of free throws with 6:13 left, followed by five straight points from Turner that made it 63-56 with 5:29 remaining.  

With the score 65-56, Turner hit a three-pointer, but the shot was waved off after a referee conference determined that a foul away from the ball had taken place just prior to the shot.  Stith then went to the line and hit both shots to make it 65-58, but the Bearcats momentum was temporarily halted.

At the 3:04 mark, Stith picked up his fifth foul on an offensive charge, while Kett was forced to play with four fouls.  With 2:27 left, Turner hit a long jumper to make it 68-60, but was called for a pushoff after the shot, sending Juniata to the line, where they hit one free throw but again took the momentum away from SVC.

Turner then came down the court and hit a jumper to make it 69-62, and SVC then came up with a stop on defense.  After a missed shot, Kett grabbed a key rebound, and while falling backward to the court, dished a pass to Tom Weremeychik for a layup that made it a five-point game, 69-64, with less than two minutes remaining.

However, Kevin Stapleton of the Golden Eagles responded with a quick three-pointer to make it an 8-point game.  Pat Jones responded with a three of his own for the Bearcats with 45 ticks left, but the hosts managed to hit several free throws in the closing seconds to hold on for the win.

Stapleton led all scorers on the day with 27 points.  Turner topped the SVC side of the ledger with 26, while Stith had 22.  Kett had a game-high 9 rebounds, while Turner and Jones had six each.

SVC won the battle on the boards, 33-19, holding Juniata to just one offensive rebound in 40 minutes.  However, the Golden Eagles won the game thanks to strong shooting, hitting 55.3% from the field, including 61% in the second half, while SVC shot 46.6% for the game.  

Saint Vincent is now 4-2 on the season while Juniata improves to 4-1.  The Bearcats will host Mount Aloysius College at 7PM on Monday night in the Carey Center.