LATROBE, Pa. (Dec. 4) – The Saint Vincent men's basketball team closed out a three-game homestand with a visit from Presidents' Athletic Conference rival Washington & Jefferson in a Saturday afternoon matinee.

The visiting Presidents used hot shooting to pick up the win, 104-64.

Kaleb Fields and Nelson Etuk each scored 15 points to top the Bearcats, with Fields connecting on four of his team's five 3-point field goals. Diego Martinez added 9 points and 7 rebounds for SVC, while Evan Farling came off the bench to also grab 7 boards.

The SVC defense tallied 13 steals, with Martinez, Farling, Osyon Jones, and Dashawn Sims each grabbing two thefts. Martinez, Jones and Corey Harden tied for the team lead with 3 assists apiece.

The visitors got off to a strong start, opening up a 24-8 lead with 11:50 to go in the first half. Saint Vincent promptly chipped away at the deficit, using a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to pull to within six, 24-18, with 7:55 left in the half. Fields tallied 6 points over the spurt, while Dominic Jennings and Etuk each added baskets.

The teams traded baskets over the next several trips, with SVC's Corey Harden connecting on a layup with 3:42 left to make the score W&J 33, SVC 26. From there, however, the Presidents took charge, closing the half on a 16-7 run to take a 49-33 lead into the locker room.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Fields connected on a pair of threes, before a Jones layup pulled the hosts to within 13, 56-43, with 17:23 left in regulation. The fortunes would quickly turn, however, as the Presidents rattled off a 20-0 run over the next six minutes to push their lead to 76-43 with just inside 11 minutes left to play. Play would even out over the next 10 minutes, but the long run was too much for the Bearcats to overcome.

Nick Gearhart scored a game-high 25 points for W&J, while J.R. Mazza added 20, on the strength of 6 of his team's 10 three-pointers.

The loss drops SVC's record to 1-7 overall and 0-3 in the PAC, while W&J improves to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in league play.

The Bearcats will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 7, traveling to central Pennsylvania to take on Juniata in a non-conference bout beginning at 7 p.m.