STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (Nov. 16) – The Saint Vincent men's basketball team opened the Presidents' Athletic Conference schedule in fine fashion, earning a 91-72 road victory over Franciscan University.
The Saint Vincent (4-0, 1-0 PAC) offense shot 49 percent from the field and saw eight players score at least six points, while defensively, the Bearcats forced 28 Franciscan (0-2, 0-1 PAC) turnovers and limited the hosts to just two three-point field goals.
The victory gives Saint Vincent its first 4-0 start to the season since 2008-09, when the Bearcats opened with a 9-0 record en route to a 22-3 finish.
Reigning PAC Rookie of the Week Jaden Gales led all scorers with a career-high 26 points, leading three Bearcats in double-figures, with Shemar Bennett adding 15 points and Andrew Reed 11. Tayler McNeal chipped in with eight points and a game-high four steals, while Reed dished a team-leading five assists.
The Bearcats' strong performance on both sides of the basketball was supplemented by a solid night on the glass, as they out-rebounded the Barons 41-34. Bennett posted the double-double with a game-high 13 boards, while Gales narrowly missed a double-double after grabbing nine caroms.
The two teams traded the lead in the early stages of the first half, with the Barons taking a 12-9 advantage with 11:32 left. A traditional three-point play from Gales would then kickstart a run that put the Bearcats ahead for good. Over a span of 3:30, Saint Vincent scored 14 unanswered points, with a three-pointer from Jake DeMotte, four free throws from Bennett, an offensive put-back layup from Jayden Bailey and a bucket in the paint from Gales putting the visitors in front 23-12 with just over eight minutes left in the half.
Franciscan countered with five points to cut the deficit to 23-17 with 6:53 to go, but the Bearcats would put together another surge, scoring nine straight points over the next two minutes to open up a 32-17 advantage. Six of the nine points came from Gales, while Diego Martinez scored two and McNeal sank one free throw. SVC's advantage would eventually grow to 41-22 on a Bennett jumper at the one-minute mark, before the Barons closed the half with five straight points to take a 41-27 deficit into the locker room.
The Barons continued to chip away at the deficit to open the second half, cutting the SVC lead to single digits at 49-40 with 14:51 left in regulation. As was the case in the first half, the Bearcats answered with another quick surge, scoring eight points in just over a minute, as an and-one play from McNeal, a jumper from Reed and another trey from DeMotte putting SVC in front 57-42 with 14 minutes remaining.
Franciscan battled back to close the gap to 63-52 at the midpoint of the half, but the Bearcats would embark on yet another big run, out-scoring the Barons 14-2 over the next four minutes to take a 77-54 lead with 6:16 left. Fittingly, Gales began the surge with an emphatic dunk at the 10:18 mark, before closing it with a pair of free throws.
The Bearcat lead would remain at 20-plus points until a Franciscan basket on the last possession of the game accounted for the final 19-point margin.
Travis Lien led Franciscan with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Josh Zimmerman added 12 and Benjamin Klement 11.
The Bearcats will return home on Saturday, Nov. 19, to face PAC rival Westminster College beginning at 4 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.
