The Bearcats used a strong final eight minutes of play to pull away from the Grove City Wolverines, posting a 75-66 victory on the road.
Matt D'Amico and
Coy Patterson Jr accounted for the team's first seven points, with a bucket from D'Amico making it a 7-6 SVC lead at the 15:42 mark of the first half.Â
Andrew Beckman of Grove City then hit a trio of shots, helping his team to take a 13-9 advantage at the 12:40 mark.  Scores from
Austin Dedert and
Gage McCracken tied the game at 13-13, but the Wolverines tallied the game's next five points to take the lead, and held the advantage the remainder of the half.Â
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The lead grew to as many as eight (25-17) for the hosts, before D'Amico started a Bearcat rally with a free throw, followed by a score from
Tom Kromka. D'Amico then hit a three, followed by a baseline jumper that reduced the Bearcat deficit to just two, 27-25.
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Later, at the 2:20 mark, Patterson scored on a conventional three-point play to make it a one-point game, 29-28, and the teams traded scores the remainder of the half, with Grove City holding a 33-32 edge going into the locker room.
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D'Amico tallied 12 first-half points for the Bearcats, while Patterson scored 8. Beckman controlled the offense for the Wolverines, with 16 points in the first 20 minutes.
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A putback by Dedert and a score from Patterson put SVC in front 36-33 early in the second half. The lead remained at three after a Kromka bucket at the 16:35 mark, but a three by GCC's Nate Peters quickly tied the game at 40-40.
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The Bearcats eventually rebuilt a three-point advantage, 49-46, after a left handed hook shot by Kromka at the 12 minute mark, but another Wolverine trey once again tied the game.
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The teams then traded baskets over the next four minutes, before a layup by
Austin Ford started a Bearcat run. Two free throws each from
Jason Capco and D'Amico gave SVC a 62-57 lead with 6 minutes remaining.
After a pair of free throws by Grove City made it a three-point game, Capco hit a deep three with the shot clock running down at the 4:55 mark to extend the lead to six. After the hosts responded with a layup, D'Amico hit another clutch shot from outside the arc to give SVC a 7-point lead, 68-61.
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With the Bearcats up 68-62, Patterson came up with a steal that led to a pull-up jumper by D'Amico that ran the lead to eight with 2:27 on the clock.
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Grove City's Cory Huff drove to the basket and scored with 1:00 left to reduce the Bearcat lead to six (71-65), but D'Amico hit several free throws in the closing minute to seal the win for Saint Vincent.
D'Amico led the offense with 25 points, including a 13-16 showing from the free throw line. Patterson and Kromka added 10 points each. Ford and Kromka each grabbed 8 rebounds, while D'Amico had 7.
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Saint Vincent is now 9-4 overall, 5-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Grove City falls to 2-4 in the conference, 6-7 overall.Â
SVC will travel to Greenville to take on the Thiel Tomcats on Wednesday evening (January 11).Â
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