LATROBE, Pa. (Jan. 15) -  The Bearcat men's basketball team shrugged off a slow start and then held off a late comeback attempt to defeat Thiel 65-61 in a Presidents' Athletic Conference bout in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.

A trio of sophomores led SVC on the score sheet, paced by Anthony Dillard, who poured in a game-high 26 points behind 6-for-9 shooting from the field and a 13-for-15 mark from the foul line. Classmate Osyon Jones added 17 points, while Kaleb Fields netted 9 on the strength of a 3-for-5 showing from behind the arc.

The Bearcats (2-9, 1-4) started slowly, spotting the Tomcats (1-10, 0-5 PAC) a 10-0 lead just 3:57 into the first half. The Bearcats finally found the scoreboard with just over 15 minutes left in the half, when Jones picked off a steal and went coast-to-coast with a fast-break layup. He would add another bucket 40 seconds later, before Fields' first three-pointer of the day trimmed the Thiel lead to 13-7 with 13:29 to go in the half.

Thiel's lead swelled to 15-7 with 11:56 to go in the half, but the Bearcats would then continue to chip away at the deficit. A layup by Nelson Etuk made it 15-10 with 11:30 to go, before Dillard scored 8 points in a four-minute span, highlighted by a traditional three-point play with 9:27 left, to pull SVC to make it a one-point game, 19-18, with 6:30 left in the half.

The Tomcat lead hovered between one and three points over the next two minutes, before Dominic Jennings' fast-break layup off of a steal gave SVC its first advantage of the night, 24-23, with 3:59 until the break. Another Jones layup off of a steal pushed SVC's advantage to 30-27 with inside a minute left, before Arguel Drotleff's bucket with two seconds remaining gave the Bearcats a 32-27 halftime lead.

Dillard and Jennings each connected on three-pointers in the opening two minutes of the second half to increase the Bearcat advantage to 38-31, before a pair of Jones layups upped SVC's lead to nine points, 42-33, with just over 15 minutes left in regulation. Thiel responded with a 9-3 run over the next five minutes to pull to within 46-42 at the 10-minute mark of the half, but a three from the wing by Fields kick started a 7-0 run that pushed the SVC lead into double digits, 53-42, with 6:46 to go.

The Tomcats put together one last rally, cutting the SVC lead to four points on four different occasions in the final 90 seconds, but the Bearcats went 5-for-6 from the foul line during the final minute to hold off the charge and snap their 7-game losing skid.

Thiel owned a decisive 49-31 advantage on the glass and forced 19 Bearcat turnovers, but Saint Vincent shot an efficient 47 percent from the field (21-for-56) and 82 percent from the line (18-for-22) compared to Thiel's 31 percent mark from the floor (23-for-72) and 61 percent showing from the line (13-for-21).

Marlon Ellerbee led four Tomcats in double-figures with 22 points, while teammate Ahmad Tejumola recorded a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double.

The Bearcats will now have a quick turnaround as they are scheduled to return to action on Monday, Jan. 17, with a 7:30 p.m. bout at PAC foe Grove City, a make-up date after it was originally postponed on Jan. 4.