BOX SCORE

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by Abby Geisel, Sports Information Assistant
 
The Bearcats defeated the Geneva Golden Tornadoes in a PAC Conference match-up by a score of 77-62 on Wednesday night in the Robert S. Carey Gymnasium, as four starters scored in double figures.
 
The Bearcats took a commanding lead from the beginning with points from many of the team's leaders including seniors Dillon Stith and Isaac Turner. Junior forward Sean Kett was a strong presence under the rim scoring eight points in the first half. SVC also excelled defensively holding Geneva to 22 points. Stith went 4-for-4 from the line and tacked on a basket to close out the half for the Bearcats. At halftime SVC led 39-22.
 
Despite back-to-back threes by Geneva's Jordan Harbison early in the second half, Stith and Turner worked in tandem to expand SVC's sizeable point margin. At 12:32, Turner converted a conventional three-point play, which Stith followed with a pair of free throws and a three-point play to give SVC a 59-41 lead. Off the bench, freshman Fabio Fortunato contributed to the Bearcat lead with two three's of his own, making the score 65-44 with 6:22 remaining in the second half.
 
JC Howard was a force for SVC in the final minutes of the game scoring four points from the field and two points from the line. Geneva scored two 3-point field goals in the final seconds of the game but could not overcome the Bearcat lead.
 
Turner totaled 18 points for the game. Stith added 17, shooting 11-for-13 from the free throw line. Howard tallied 12, while Kett tacked on 11.  Fabio Fortunato scored six on a pair of second half threes.
 
On defense, Stith had 10 rebounds followed by Kett, who had 6.
 
For the Golden Tornados (4-18), Harbison scored 27 points, followed by Jordan Lawrence with 12. Defensively, Pat Johnson and Tyler Damazo each contributed five rebounds.
 
With the win, the Bearcats improved to 19-3 overall (12-1 in the PAC) and will host Bethany for senior night on Saturday evening in the Carey Center.  Tipoff is 6PM.