BOX SCORE

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The Saint Vincent men's basketball team was unable to hold a second half lead, falling to Thomas More College on the road in the battle for the #2 seed in the Presidents' Athletic Conference playoffs.  The final score was 90-80.
 
Defense dominated the game over the first five minutes, with neither team able to get many scoring opportunities.  An underhanded layup by Pat Jones tied the game with 14:36 to play, as five different Bearcats scored the game's first five baskets.
 
With the game tied as 12-12, Isaac Turner scored at the 11-minute mark to put SVC up by two, then three straight points by Ben Klimchock – a free throw, followed by a fast-break layup – made it a 5-point Bearcat lead, 17-12.  After the next six points were scored by the Saints, Turner returned the lead to the visitors' side with a layup and a pair of free throws, making it a 21-18 Bearcat lead with 8:43 remaining in the first half. 
 
Back-to-back threes by Jones and Turner later ran the lead to five, 27-22.  The lead increased to seven, 34-27 after a Klimchock score with 4:55 remaining.  However, the Bearcats were unable to add any more points the rest of the half, while Thomas More added 10, to go into the half up 37-34.
 
Sean Kett, who sat most of the first half with 3 fouls, singlehandedly gave SVC back the lead, scoring on the opening possession of the second half, then stealing the inbound pass and scoring again, giving SVC a 38-37 lead.
 
A three by Klimchock later made it 45-41 in favor of the Bearcats, but Thomas More then came right back to score five straight points, before a three by Jones made it 48-46 Saint Vincent.  However, both Klimchock and Kett then ventured into foul trouble, each picking up their fourth with more than 15 minutes left in the second half. 
 
With the score tied at 50-50, Jones once again hit a three, and after the Saints hit one of their own to tie the game, SVC got four straight points from Kett to make it 57-53 near the 13-minute mark.
 
After a free throw by the Saints tied the game 59-59 with less than 12 minutes on the clock, a Stith block led to a 3-on-2 fast break by the Bearcats, as Turner passed to Jones, who fed a nice path underneath the hoop to Kett for a layup that gave Kett 10 points, all in the second half.   After a Saint timeout, Stith blocked another Thomas More shot, keeping the momentum with the Bearcats.  Turner then drew a foul and hit a pair of shots to run the SVC lead to four, 63-59, with 9:25 to go.  Stith then extended the lead to six, 65-59 at the 8:37 mark.
 
The lead wouldn't last, as SVC once again went on a cold streak in the closing minutes.  Klimchock hit a pair of free throws with 4:58 to play, and Thomas More later came back to take the lead on a putback by Brandon Housely at the 3:20 mark that made it 72-70.  With 2:45 to go, Kett fouled out, and the Saints quickly added four more points to extend the lead to six.  At the 1:31 mark, Klimchock picked up his fifth foul, and an ensuing free throw made it 77-70 in favor of the hosts.  The lead ran to nine, 79-70, before the Bearcats were able to score, but the damage had been done.
 
Turner led all scorers with 29 points, while Stith and Klimchock added 12 each.  Kett and Jones finished with 11.  Stith was the top SVC rebounder with 11. 

For the Saints, Spencer Berlekamp had 20 points, while Brandon Housley scored 17 to go along with 14 rebounds. 
 
The Bearcats will be the #3 seed and will host Thiel College on Tuesday night in the Carey Center at 8PM in the first round of the PAC playoffs.  In the teams' last meeting, Thiel won 124-121 in four overtimes, the longest game in school history.