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BETHANY, W. Va. (Feb. 9) - Saint Vincent was unable to hold a 13-point second half lead, but recovered to post a 69-66 victory in overtime on the road at Hummel Field House and Presidents' Athletic Conference rival Bethany.

With the win, the Bearcats maintain a tie for first place in the PAC with Thomas More, who was a 72-62 winner over Thiel. SVC improves to 18-5 on the season and 13-1 in the league. The defending-conference champion Bison fall to 15-8 overall and 9-5 in the conference.

SVC built a seven-point lead, 53-46, with 2:09 remaining in regulation on a layup by sophomore forward Grant Latus. Bethany used a seven-point run to tie the game, 53-53, with 1:20 to play thanks to two SVC turnovers. A layup by junior guard Isaac Turner with 1:04 put SVC ahead by two, but two Bethany free throws with 53.9 seconds left tied the game and would be the last points in regulation, sending the game into overtime, 55-55, when Bethany missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

In overtime, SVC made seven free throws during the first 2:16, two by Turner, two by senior guard Chris Klimchock, two by junior forward Dillon Stith and one by Latus. Latus was the final FT shooter in the span and made the front end of the two-shot foul before missing the second one where Stith came up with the rebound, allowing SVC to take more time off the clock.

After Bethany cut the score to 63-62, Turner drove to the hoop to record a layup with 36.3 seconds left and put SVC back ahead by three points, 65-62. The Bison made a free throw to make it a two-point game, before Turner made two free throws to push the score to four points, 67-63.

With under 10 seconds left, Bethany missed a three-pointer and Stith hauled in the rebound and was fouled before sealing the game with a pair of free throws. The Bison hit a triple as the buzzer sounded to make the final score, 69-66, matching the end result of the first meeting between the two teams.

The game started off close, with Bethany holding a 13-11 lead with 8:17 to play in the first half following a three-point play, before Stith hit a trifecta to give SVC the lead back. After a Bison basket at the 5:58-mark, SVC went on a 9-0 run where a traditional three-point play by senior forward Armani Fountain was book-ended by three-pointers by senior guard Edmond Wright II. A put-back layup by Stith sent SVC into the halftime break ahead, 25-18.

To begin the second half, the Bearcats pushed the lead to 12 points, 32-21, with 15:42 remaining on layups by Stith, Latus and freshman JC Howard, who converted a three-point play to set the margin.

For the game, SVC shot 34.9 percent (22-of-63) from the field, while Bethany made 40.7 percent (24-of-59) of its shots. The Bearcats held a sizeable, 49-33, advantage on the glass, including a season-high 19 offensive rebounds, which led to 21 second-chance points.

Turner led the Bearcats with 15 points, all in the second half and overtime, while Stith and Wright were also in double-figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Stith finished the double-double by adding 10 rebounds. Klimchock registered nine points, while Latus finished with seven points and 14 rebounds.

SVC now concludes the regular season with two home games, the first of which is Wednesday, Feb. 13, against Waynesburg at 7:30 p.m. and the regular-season finale is Saturday, Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. against Thomas More, who SVC is tied for first place with in the conference.