WAYNESBURG, Pa (Nov. 30)- The Saint Vincent men's basketball team returned to action after a one-week hiatus, traveling to Waynesburg for a President's Athletic Conference matchup, where the Bearcats came from behind defeating the Yellow Jackets 63-57.
 
Shemar Bennett led the way for Saint Vincent recording a double double, scoring 19 points while grabbing 15 rebounds. Bennett shot 8-13 from the field in route to his double double. Andrew Reed finished in double figures as well, scoring 10 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Reed was a crisp 7-8 from the free throw line. Jaden Gales was the third Bearcat in double figures, scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
 
Osyon Jones added nine points and two rebounds and Tayler McNeal scored five points while grabbing two rebounds as well. Jake DeMotte and Jaden Bailey rounded out the scoring for Saint Vincent off the bench with DeMotte scoring four points and Bailey adding three points.
 
It was a low-scoring first half as the team's combined for just 43 total points combined, with the Yellow Jackets holding a slight 23-20 advantage at the halftime break. Despite the low score and trailing 23-20 at the half, the Bearcats led for the majority of the first half. Saint Vincent held the lead for 14:59 in the half.
 
The Bearcats largest lead in the half was seven. With 9:33 left in the half, SVC trailed 13-12, but the Bearcats responded. Saint Vincent went on an 8-0 run that spanned over four-minutes of game action, leading 20-13. The Yellow Jackets answered, going on a run of their own to close out the half. Over the remaining five minutes of first half action, Waynesburg closed out the half on a 10-0 run to hold the 23-20 lead at the half.
 
Both teams held each other to cold shooting in the first half, with both the Bearcats and Yellow Jackets shooting 33 percent in the half. Beyond the three-point line, SVC was 0-7 in the half and Waynesburg was 1-5. Rebounds were fairly even with Waynesburg holding a slight 19-16 advantage.
 
The second half was much more high scoring. Saint Vincent outscored Waynesburg 43-34 in the half to earn the comeback victory. Saint Vincent shot a crisp 42 percent in the half and 3-10 from behind the three-point line. SVC outrebounded Waynesburg in the half by a 23-18 margin as well.
 
In the first ten minutes of the second half the Bearcats regained the lead at 36-33, outscoring the Yellow Jackets by a 16-10 mark. Waynesburg cut the Saint Vincent lead to just two at 38-36, but that's the closest they would get the rest of the game. SVC went on a 13-4 run taking their largest lead of the game at 11, as the score was 51-40.
 
The Yellow Jackets responded late, cutting the Bearcats lead to six with 13-seconds to go at 60-54. The Bearcats closed the game out at the free-throw line, as Reed and Demotte went a combined 5-5 from the stripe in the remaining 13-seconds of the game clinch the 63-57 PAC road win for Saint Vincent.
 
The win moves the Bearcats to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the PAC which moves Saint Vincent into a tie for second place in the conference standings with Geneva and Westminster. All three teams sit just one game behind conference leading Washington and Jefferson College.
 
The Bearcats will get an opportunity to take on the conference leaders when they travel to W&J on Saturday to take on the Presidents. Tip off is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Washington and Jefferson.