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WASHINGTON, Pa. (Jan. 29) - The Saint Vincent men's basketball team trailed by nine points with 5:22 to play, but rallied to out-score Washington & Jefferson 17-5 to close the game en route to an 80-77 victory on the road.

After W&J's Nate Bellhy recorded a steal and breakaway dunk with 5:22 remaining, the host Presidents led by their largest margin, nine points, 72-63.

Junior Sean Kett got the rally started with a pair of free throws with 4:16 to play and on the ensuing possession, sophomore JC Howard recorded a steal and fastbreak layup to make it a five-point game. After a W&J fastbreak layup with 2:19 to play, SVC trailed again by seven points, 74-67.

Howard would cut the margin to four with 1:22 to go on his fourth three-pointer of the game, and after forcing a turnover, senior Isaac Turner knocked down a triple that made it a one-point game, 74-73, with 53.7 seconds on the clock.

Following a Saint Vincent time out, the Presidents made one of two free-throws to push the lead back to two points, 75-73, with 31.1 seconds remaining. Howard then knocked down his second three-pointer in 61 seconds and put the Bearcats ahead for the first time since halftime, 76-75, taking the air out of Henry Memorial Center. Howard then helped to finish the game by recording a steal on defense and a pair of free throws to extend the lead to three points, 78-75, with 8.3 seconds left.

The Bearcats closed out the game following a pair of W&J free throws as Pat Jones knocked down a pair of freebies and a half-court heave by the Presidents fell short, to send SVC to its 21st-straight win over a Presidents' Athletic Conference opponent, and 18th-consecutive regular season victory against the league.

SVC took a 35-33 lead into the locker room at halftime after trailing by as many as eight points (19-11 with 11:41 remaining) in the opening period. Following the 12-0 W&J run that led to the eight-point lead, SVC hit three-straight three-pointers, two by Howard and one by sophomore Ben Klimchock.

The Bearcats eventually tied the game for the first time, 27-27, on an and-one play by Kett with 7:20 to play in the half. W&J reclaimed the lead, but SVC answered with a 6-0 run to take a four-point lead, 33-29, with 1:46 to go in the half.

The beginning of the second half featured six ties as the two teams battled back and forth for the first five minutes of the half. W&J took the lead with 15:06 to play at 47-45 and would not relinquish it until Howard's three-pointer with 21.1 seconds.

For the game, the hosts shot 54.2 percent (26-of-48) while SVC made 41.9 percent (26-of-62) of its field goals. The Bearcats held a dominating 38-22 rebounding edge, but committed a season-high 19 turnovers.

Despite scoring just four points in the first half Turner led all players with 24 points, his 11th-straight PAC regular season game with 20-plus points. Howard added 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including five-of-seven from beyond-the-arc. Senior forward Dillon Stith posted his league-leading 10th double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Kett also registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.

The win improves the Bearcats to 16-2 overall and 9-0 in the PAC. W&J falls to 10-9 on the season and 5-5 in the league.

SVC will be back at the Carey Center on Saturday, Feb. 1, hosting Westminster in a PAC match-up, scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off.