The Saint Vincent men's basketball team welcomed the Titans of Westminster College for a Presidents' Athletic Conference showdown. A last second three from Josh Duda gave Saint Vincent the 74-42 victory on Senior Night. With the win, Saint Vincent improves to 10-11 overall and 5-7 in the PAC while Westminster falls to 12-10 with a conference record of 7-6.

After winning the opening tip, Westminster hit a three to score the first basket of the game. Layups by David Stephen and Walter Bonds gave Saint Vincent its first lead of the game, 4-3. The Titans regained the edge by making the next two field goals but a jumper from Drew Normandin and then an old fashion three-point play by Shemar Bennett put the Bearcats head by two (9-7). 

Westminster evened the score and eventually took the lead back but Bennett made a free throw to cut the deficit to one (13-12) followed by layups from Bonds and Cletus allowed SVC to pull ahead, 16-13. At the 13:42 mark in the first, the Titans came within one but a three from Stephen made the score 19-15. Westminster went on a 12-0 run with a couple threes to take an eight-point lead (27-19) with 9:48 on the clock. 

Bennett made the difference six but the visitors extended its lead to 10 and eventually 11 (34-23). Duda made a transition layup with Stephen hitting another three to make the game 34-28 at the 4:16 mark. Westminster grasped a double-digit lead again but a 4-0 run to end the half allowed Saint Vincent to trail 38-32 as both teams headed to the locker room.

In the second half, SVC kept the run going but the Titans answered with consecutive threes to lead by 10 (44-34). The next couple possessions, the Bearcats were able to cut the difference to eight but Westminster kept extending its lead back to 10. Later in the half, the visitors were able to gain a 13-point lead with 12:02 remaining in regulation. Bonds and Duda hit three-point shots in back-to-back possessions to pull Saint Vincent within seven.

After trading baskets back and forth, Westminster grew its lead back to 11 (66-55) with 5:33 left in the second half. After a free throw from Normandin, the combination of Bennett, Bonds and Stephen scored the next eight points to make it a one-possession game (66-64) with 3:05 left to play in regulation. 

Westminster went ahead by four after Dyaln O'Hara made two free throws but a layup from Stephen and free throws from Bennett tied the game at 68. The Titans edged ahead by one but a three from Stephen gave Saint Vincent its first lead since the 13:07 mark in the first half, 71-69. Westminster answered with a three of its own just 20 seconds later to regain a one-point advantage, 72-71. 

Both teams missed their next couple shots but after a miss from the Titans, Stephen grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with 14 seconds left in regulation. Out of the timeout, Stephen received a handoff pass from Bennett and began to drive into the lane. Stephen then kicked out to the right wing where Duda buried a three from 23 feet to give the Bearcats a 74-72 lead with 0.6 seconds left on the clock. On the insuing inbounds, Westminster tried a hail mary pass but it was tipped away by Bennett to seal the win.

Bennett led the offense for SVC with 21 points and nine rebounds while Stephen and Bonds both finished in double digits with 17 and 15, respectively. Despite being outrebounded 44-37, the Bearcats scored 10 fast break points compared to zero for Westminster.

Saint Vincent will stay on campus for its next game as the Bethany College Bison come to town on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Start time is 7:30 p.m.