The Saint Vincent men's basketball team held off a late challenge from the Pitt-Greensburg Bobcats, pulling away late to an 82-73 win in the Carey Center.

Tom Kromka led the way with 21 points, 4 blocked shots, and a career-high 15 rebounds, as the Bearcats improved to 5-1 on the season.

It was all SVC in the early minutes, with six points from Ryan Dutton helping the hosts to an early 10-1 lead.  After UPG closed the gap to 11-9 at the 13:27 mark, David Stephen hit back-to-back threes, followed by a Dutton dunk, making the score 19-9.  Later a Shemar Bennett layup was followed by a score from Stephen and a three from Mike Simmons, giving SVC a 15-point advantage, 28-13, with 7:20 left in the first half.

A Kromka layup at the 4:20 mark pushed the lead to 19, before the visitors scored five straight points.  Dutton answered with a jumper, followed by another three from Simmons, making the score 41-22.  The Bearcats eventually took a 45-27 lead into the break.

The visitors came out strong in the second half, cutting the margin to ten, 51-41, following a three from Brady Kingston at the 14:15 mark.  A steal and score from Stephen later rebuilt the lead to 13, but once again the Bobcats battled back, with Matt Johnson hitting a three from the corner with 8 minutes to go, making the score 61-54.

Kromka then took control of the inside game, helping SVC to a 69-60 lead with just under four minutes to play, but back-to-back threes by the visitors made it 69-66 with 3:13 to go.

With 2:12 on the clock, Kromka battled in the paint and scored on a putback, and after a missed shot on the other end of the court, Cletus Helton drove inside and scored on a layup to make it 74-67 with 1:47 to go.  After another missed opportunity by the Bobcats, SVC broke the press and found Kromka alone underneath for a dunk that made it a 9-point game and sealed the win.

Following Kromka on the scoresheet was Stephen with 18 points and five steals.  Bennett tallied 17 points and 9 rebounds, while Dutton added 12 points and 3 steals.  

UPG (2-3) was led by JoJo France, who scored 21 points off the bench on 8-of-11 shooting.

The Bearcats will return to action on Wednesday, October 28, starting Presidents' Athletic Conference play with a matchup at Washington & Jefferson. The game will begin at 8PM.