BOX SCORE

BETHANY, W. Va. (Dec. 3) – JC Howard scored a game-high 23 points as the Saint Vincent men's basketball team earned a 70-52 victory over Bethany in the President's Athletic Conference opener for both teams.  

With the win the Bearcats improved to 1-0 in the PAC and pushed their overall record to 4-3. Bethany dropped to 0-1 in the conference and 4-3 overall.

In a matchup of two of the top programs in the PAC, Saint Vincent built an early when senior Sean Kett made a layup to make it 7-5 Bearcats and break an early tie. The Bearcats held the lead for the remainder of the first half, pushing the advantage into double digits when Howard made a layup and a free throw to complete a three-point play and make it 20-8 with 11:05 to play in the half.

SVC worked the lead up to 25-11 before seeing Bethany score eight of the next 10 points to cut the deficit back to single digits at 27-19. A layup by sophomore Jaylon Bell and a pair of free throws from Bobby Swartwout pushed the lead back into double digits at 31-20 with less than five minutes to play in the first half.

Bethany used a three point field goal by Alan Harper to cut the margin back into single digits before Howard scored five straight points for SVC, putting the Bearcats advantage at 36-23. Howard added another field goal with less than a minute left in the half to put the score at 38-26 in favor of Saint Vincent after the first 20 minutes.

The Bearcats ultimately put the game out of reach with a strong start in the second half. After a basket by Bethany cut the Bearcats lead to 10 points, Saint Vincent responded with 12 straight points to push the lead to 50-28. Jones was a big part of the early second half run, scoring 10 straight points for SVC, including a pair of three pointers.

Saint Vincent held a comfortable lead for the vast majority of the second half. Bethany used a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 15 points at 60-45 with seven minutes to play in the contest.

Junior Ben Klimchock drained a three point basket from the top of the arc to push the Bearcats lead to 66-47 with 4:40 to play and take the sails out of the Bethany comeback effort.

Jones narrowly missed a double-double, scoring 16 points and pulling down a team-best eight rebounds. Klimchock and Austin Ford each recorded eight points in a balanced offensive attack. Kett chipped in six points, six rebounds, four assists and four blocks in the Bearcat victory.

Shooting was the story of the night on both ends. SVC put together a 55.1 percentage, while the host Bison converted just 26.8 percent from the field. Saint Vincent also did well behind the three-point line, making 9-of-18 treys (50 percent) in the contest.

Darrian Bruster was the top performer for the Bison, posting 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

The Bearcats return to action when they host Geneva for another PAC game on Saturday, Dec. 6. Start time is set for 6 p.m.