LATROBE, Pa. (Nov. 22) – Led by a 32-point, 10-rebound double-double by freshman standout Jaden Gales, the Saint Vincent men's basketball team earned a 73-62 victory over Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) rival Grove City in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.
Leading 34-33 at the intermission, Saint Vincent (5-1, 2-1 PAC) gradually pulled away over the second half, forcing 11 Grove City (1-4, 0-2 PAC) turnovers and holding the Wolverines to just 25 percent from the field in the game's final 20 minutes.
Gales' 32 points are the most in a game for a Saint Vincent freshman since three-time NAIA All-American Tony Washam netted 47 points on Dec. 1, 2001, at Cedarville, while the Bearcat win snapped their six-game losing streak to the Wolverines.
Gales was one of three Bearcats to score in double figures, as Osyon Jones netted 16 points, going 6-for-8 from the field, and Tayler McNeal 12 points, fueled by an 8-for-11 showing from the foul line. Along with his strong offensive showing, Gales also led Saint Vincent with four steals, while Jones recorded eight rebounds and two assists.
Grove City jumped out to a 12-6 lead four minutes into play, before SVC charged back. After a steal and fast-break layup from Gales and a three-pointer from Reed, the Bearcats cut the deficit to 15-12 with 14:20 left in the half. Three minutes later, Diego Martinez sank a bucket in the paint and Jaden Bailey followed with a three-pointer to tie the game at 19-19 with 11:04 left in the half.
Saint Vincent kept the momentum, with a layup and free throw from Gales followed by a Logan Karvoski jumper giving SVC its first lead of the night, 24-21, with 8:19 remaining. After the teams traded the lead several times over the next three minutes, Jones scored a pair of buckets in a 35-second span to increase the SVC lead to 33-29 with 3:19 until the break. The Wolverines battled back to tie it at 33 with 2:02 left, before Jones' free throw with 1:38 closed out the half's scoring and sent SVC into the locker room with the 1-point lead.
Over the opening 20 minutes, the Wolverines shot 64 percent (14-for-22) from the field, including a 5-for-8 mark from behind the arc. The Bearcats shot 12-for-29 overall and made just two three-pointers, but connected on eight of 12 free throw attempts compared to an 0-for-2 showing at the stripe by the visitors.
Led by Gales, the Bearcats began to pull away to open the second half. The rookie scored 16 points in the first seven minutes of the frame to spur a 17-8 run and push the SVC lead to 51-41 with 12:31 left in regulation. A minute later, the Wolverines cut the deficit to 51-45, but would get no closer the rest of the way.
The Bearcats rattled off eight unanswered points over the next two minutes, using two free throws from McNeal, a Gales jumper and fastbreak layups by Reed and Jones to open up a 59-45 lead with 8:34 remaining and effectively put the game away. The lead would eventually swell to 17, 73-56, with 2:35 remaining, before the Wolverines closed it out with two three-pointers over the final two minutes to account for the final score.
After Grove City topped 60 percent from the field in the first half, the Bearcats limited the visitors to just a 9-for-36 mark over the final 20 minutes, with five of the buckets coming from behind the arc.
Jonah Bock paced Grove City with 23 points, making seven of his team's 10 three-point baskets. Chase Yarberough scored 10 points, while David Olinger came off the bench to grab a team-leading four rebounds.
The Bearcats will now have an eight-day layoff over the Thanksgiving holiday. They will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 30, with a 7 p.m. road bout at PAC foe Waynesburg University.
