WASHINGTON, Pa. (Jan. 29) – The Saint Vincent men's basketball team was unable to maintain a hot start, as Washington & Jefferson pulled away for an 87-67 win in a Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup at the Salvitti Memorial Gymnasium.
 
Leading W&J 26-25 with just over eight minutes left in the first half, the Bearcats saw the Presidents end the frame on a 19-6 run and were unable to recover from a 14-point halftime deficit.
 
Jayven Millien recorded a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double to pace Saint Vincent, while teammate Osyon Jones added 12 points, six boards and a team-best four assists.
 
The Presidents jumped out to a 6-2 lead four minutes into the first half, but SVC battled back to pull to within 10-9 on an Adam Bosco three-pointer with 14 minutes left. On the Bearcats' next possession, Millien put down an alley-oop dunk from Jones, spurring a 10-4 Bearcat run, which was capped by a long Dominic Jennings trey, to open up a 21-16 lead with 11:20 remaining. W&J chipped away at the deficit and briefly tied the game at 22-all with 8:40 to go, before a layup from Jones and another dunk from Millien put SVC back in front 26-25 with 8:09 left.
 
The Bearcats would then go cold, managing just two free throws over the next seven-plus minutes of game action, allowing the Presidents to open up a 45-28 lead with 1:21 remaining in the half. Millien would finally snap the SVC drought with a three-pointer on his team's final possession, sending the teams into the locker room with the Presidents holding a 45-31 lead.
 
Jones hit from behind the arc on the first possession of the second half to make it an 11-point game, 45-34, but the Presidents kept the momentum from the end of the first half to respond with a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to up their lead to 57-36. W&J's advantage would eventually swell to 67-40 at the midpoint of the half, and though the Bearcats would outscore their hosts down the stretch, it was too little, too late.
 
Saint Vincent shot 42 percent from the field (25-for-59), but connected on just 50 percent from the foul line (11-for-22) and finished 6-for-21 from behind the arc. The Presidents shot just under 50 percent from the field (36-for-73), but also struggled from both behind the arc (7-for-27) and at the charity stripe (8-for-16). SVC out-rebounded W&J 44-41, but the Presidents held a 54-34 advantage in points in the paint and scored 29 points off of Bearcat turnovers.
 
Nick Gearhart scored 16 points to lead W&J, while Kyran Mitchell scored 13 points and grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds.
 
Saint Vincent will be back in action on Monday, Jan. 31, traveling to Steubenville, Ohio, to take on PAC foe Franciscan University beginning at 8 p.m.