The Saint Vincent Bearcat men's basketball team finished the 2018 calendar year with an 87-73 victory over visiting Hood College in a non-conference game in the Carey Center.

Sophomore David Stephen led the Bearcats with 24 points, while Shemar Bennett tallied 15 and Mike Simmons added 14.  
 
Stephen set the tone early, hitting three consecutive three-pointers in the games first two minutes, putting SVC in front 9-0.
 
The lead increased to 12-0 after a free throw by Tom Kromka and a layup from Ryan Dutton off a Stephen assist near the 16-minute mark of the first half. 
 
Stephen's fourth long-distance shot of the game ran the lead to 15-1 before the Blazers hit their first field goal of the game at the 15:40 mark, making the score 15-3.
 
The Saint Vincent lead got as high at 18 points after an Andrew Reed three pointer (23-5), before Hood started to fight back.  A five-point run by the visitors cut the margin to 13, but four points from Bennett near the midway point of the half put SVC up by a score of 27-13.

The lead once again rose to 15 after Simmons hit a three, but the game's next six points belonged to Hood, as they reduced the margin to just nine, 30-21, with six minutes left in the half.
 
Josh Duda then took control for the Bearcats, hitting a three at one end of the court, coming up with a steal at the other end, and following with another three that made the score 36-21.
 
Duda added another three, and Stephen dropped in two additional three-pointers before the half ended, putting SVC in front 49-28 at the break.
 
Stephen led the way with 18 points, all on three-pointers, as the team hit 12-of-18 shots from outside the arc in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
A pair of threes helped the visitors to open the second half on an 8-2 run, but a Simmons three at the 16:30 mark put SVC in front 54-36.
 
Another 5-0 run by the Blazers closed the gap, but Reed's second three of the game with just under 14 minutes to play gave the Bearcats a 16-point lead.  From there, the next several minutes of the game were spent at the foul line, with teams trading free throws.  
 
Near the 9-minute mark, a jumper by Dutton made it a 65-51 game, and a Simmons basket with 7:15 remaining gave SVC an 18-point lead, 71-53.
 
Stephen hit his 7th three of the game with 6:21 left on the clock, running the lead to 19 (74-55).
 
From there, SVC didn't look back, earning its 10th win of the season against just 2 losses.
 
In addition to his 24 points, Stephen added assists and four steals.  Tom Kromka grabbed 9 rebounds and had three blocks to lead the Bearcats (10-2) in both categories. Bennett added 7 rebounds, while Reed had 5 assists.  Mason Wang led Hood with 21 points.
 
SVC will return to conference play on Thursday night, January 3, hosting Westminster College at 7:30PM.