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CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. (Mar. 1) - The Saint Vincent men's basketball team earned its second-straight Presidents' Athletic Conference championship with a 90-84 win at Thomas More at the Connor Convocation Center.

The victory improves the Bearcats to 22-6 and punches SVC's ticket to the NCAA Division III Tournament for a consecutive season. The Saints end the season 15-12.

Saint Vincent, fueled by runs of 11-0 and 11-2 in the first half the Bearcats took a 42-29 lead into halftime. The 11-0 run came over a nearly two minute span from 14:24-12:33 in the first half and included an Isaac Turner three-pointer, five points from Sean Kett and an three-point play by Dillon Stith, making the score 21-8.

After a brief 7-0 spurt by the Saints, the 11-2 run followed and was started by a Pat Jones three-pointer with 9:40 remaining in the half. A Ben Klimchock fastbreak layup followed before Thomas More scored and SVC closed out a 6-0 spurt with three points each from Stith and Turner, 32-17.

SVC would out-score TMC 8-3 over the next three minutes thanks to a pair of layups and jumpers, opening up the largest lead of the half, 40-22, at the 4:10-mark.

Thomas More closed out the frame by posting a 7-2 advantage down the stretch the the Bearcats led, 42-29, at the half.

Over the first five minutes of the second half, Thomas More cut the margin to eight points, 49-41, but Kett responded with back-to-back layups to push the margin back to 12 points.

A Saints basket was answered with a 14-2 run by the Bearcats, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by JC Howard, extending the lead to 21 points, 67-46 with 9:12 to play.

Much of the rest of the game involved matched baskets and Thomas More pressure causing some Saint Vincent turnovers that led to points, but the Bearcats weathered the storm in posting the 90-84 win, thanks in part to 13 made free throws in the final 3:05.

Four players scored in double figures for Saint Vincent, led by Stith's 23 points and 11 rebounds. Turner added 22 points, Howard totaled 20 points (17 in the second half) and Kett posted 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bearcats shot a staggering 63.0 percent (29-of-46) from the field for the game, including 66.7 percent (12-of-18) in the second half.

SVC should know the status of its NCAA Tournament first-round opponent  and game location on Monday, March 3, around 12:30 p.m. during the NCAA Selection Show which will be broadcast on NCAA.com. The first and second rounds will be played on Friday-Saturday, March 7-8.