LATROBE, Pa. (Feb. 14) – There are many men's basketball playoff scenarios heading into the final day of the Presidents' Athletic Conference regular season on Saturday. The only certain thing is that when Saint Vincent and Thomas More (Ky.) tip-off at 4 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center on Saint Vincent's campus, first place will be on the line.
 
The Bearcats (19-5 overall, 14-1 PAC) enter the contest ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional rankings and riding an eight-game winning streak. The Saints (21-3, 14-1) are ranked third in the Great Lakes Region and have won their last 12 games. The first time these two teams met, a 64-59 Thomas More home victory, was the last Saint Vincent loss, and only one in the 2013 calendar year.
 
Saint Vincent 10th-year head coach D.P. Harris understands just how crucial Saturday's game is, “This is the most important game we've had since joining the PAC (three years ago). Saint Vincent-Thomas More has become a great rivalry, and you add in the fact that home court advantage in the playoffs will be on the line, it just makes it even better.”
 
Over the last four seasons, the Bearcats have won over 81 percent (30-7) of their home games, so Harris understands the importance of home-court advantage, “Home court means a lot in this conference. Thomas More is a tough place to play, but we plan to show them on Saturday just how tough the Carey Center can be to play in. Hopefully, they will have to come back here next weekend for the Championship game.”
 
Senior guard Chris Klimchock, a Greensburg, Pa., native and PAC Player of the Year candidate, leads three players that average double-figures for Harris's squad that has already matched its win total of the past two seasons with 19 victories. Klimchock leads the team with 15.6 points per game, fourth in the conference, while junior guard Isaac Turner is right behind him at 15.4 points per game, good for fifth in the PAC.  Klimchock is also right at the top of the conference in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio, a crucial category for a point guard.
 
The Bearcats also get 11.3 points per game from junior forward Dillon Stith, whose .536 field-goal percentage ranks second in the league. Additionally, sophomore forward Grant Latus averages 7.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and a league-best 1.7 blocked shots per game, with front court and classmate Sean Kett accounting for 7.0 points and 4.9 rebounds, while leading the league in free-throw percentage at .871 (61-of-70).
 
Thomas More is led by fourth-year head coach Jeff Rogers, the PAC Coach of the Year a season ago. Junior guard D'Carlo Hayes lead the Saints at 12.7 points per game, 12th in the conference. Classmate forward Brandon Housley ranks second on the team, averaging 9.1 points, while leading Thomas More in rebounds (5.0 per game), steals (45) and blocks (16).
 
Harris knows that a win on Saturday, coupled with home-court advantage throughout the PAC Tournament, would help the team reach its ultimate goal of the program's first trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament, something it did several times as a member of the NAIA.
 
“We've made it our goal since joining the PAC to make a return to the national tournament,” said Harris.  “We did it several years in a row in the NAIA, and this is our best chance yet since we joined the NCAA.  With our fans behind us, we hope to take a big step in that direction here on Saturday.”  
 
Fans unable to make it to the Carey Center can listen to 1480-AM WCNS in Latrobe for Dow Carnahan's call, or they can view the PAC Sports Network's Game of the Week webcast at www.pacstream.net.