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by Sean Malone, Sports Information Assistant
The Saint Vincent College men's basketball team advanced to the PAC tournament semifinals with a close win over the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets. 

The Bearcats, playing without starting point guard Chris Klimchock, managed a 72-62 victory, but the game was closer than the final score indicated.  Saint Vincent padded its margin of victory by making 10 of 12 free throws in the game's final two minutes.

Saint Vincent started the game well, with the game on a 10-1 run in the first four minutes with points from four different players.  However, Waynesburg bounced back and took a 20-19 lead with 8:08 left to play in the first half. 

Armani Fountain put the Bearcats back in front 16 seconds later, and the teams proceeded to trade baskets for the rest of the half.   Saint Vincent went into halftime leading by three, 34-31.
 
Sean Kett scored on the Bearcats' first possession of the second half to push the lead to five, but that was as large as the lead would get before Waynesburg came fighting back.    

The Yellow Jackets once again took the lead, 39-38, with 13:10 remaining.  However, Saint Vincent responded quickly as Isaac Turner hit a jumper 19 seconds later to give the Bearcats a 40-39 edge.  After Edmond Wright II completed an and-1 play, Turner and Dillon Stith took over for Saint Vincent.  They combined to score 14 of the Bearcats' next 16 points on a series of jumpers and drives to the basket. 

A Grant Latus layup with 3:21 left pushed the Saint Vincent lead to 60-54.

At this point, Waynesburg started fouling, and Turner, Wright, Stith, and Sean Kett combined to make 10 of 12 free throws in the final two minutes to preserve the Saint Vincent lead and secure the 72-62 victory.

Turner and Stith notched 18 and 15 points respectively, but, the whole team shot well, as Saint Vincent shot 50% from the field and 72% from the line for the game.  Wright led the team with 5 assists.

Defensively, Fountain had the most rebounds with six, while five different players picked up blocks, led by Stith's three, as the Bearcats collected 8 blocked shots to Waynesburg's 0.

Waynesburg had two players in double figures with Jason Propst scoring 17 and Jacob Fleegle adding 12  One reason the Yellow Jackets kept the game close was their stellar rebounding effort.  They grabbed 23 offensive rebounds and 41 total rebounds compared to Saint Vincent's 9 offensive rebounds and 29 total boards.  Propst and Thomas Ellis each led the team with 9 rebounds.

With the win, Saint Vincent advances to the semifinals to play Washington & Jefferson College, which beat Bethany tonight on the road in West Virginia.  As the Bearcats are the #1 seed, that game will take place at the Carey Center, and is scheduled for 7pm Thursday night.  The winner will advance to the PAC Championship game on Saturday, facing the winner of a Thursday night showdown in Kentucky between Thomas More and Thiel.