LATROBE, Pa. (Nov. 8) – Behind a balanced offensive effort and a stifling defense, the Saint Vincent College men's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season with an 81-61 victory over Penn State-Shenango in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.
 
In head coach D.P. Harris's return to the SVC sidelines, six different Bearcats scored at least eight points, while the Bearcats limited the Lions to just 34 percent from the field, forced 20 turnovers and owned a 48-37 margin in rebounding.
 
Making his Bearcat debut, Tayler McNeal scored a game-high 17 points, while veteran teammates Shemar Bennett and Andrew Reed each scored 11. Bennett grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to record the double-double, with front court made Jaden Gales scoring nine points and grabbing seven boards.
 
Osyon Jones added eight points for SVC and Jake DeMotte scored eight points in his debut, going 2-for-5 from behind the arc.
 
The Bearcats jumped out to a 7-0 lead 80 seconds into the first half on a McNeal three-pointer, before the Lions chipped away, countering with a 10-2 run to take their first – and only – lead of the night, 10-9, with 12:19 left in the half.
 
A fast break dunk by Gales promptly put the Bearcats back in front, with the lead growing to as many as six points when DeMotte's first trey made the score 20-14 with 6:12 left. The Lions refused to go away, eventually pulling to within 30-28 with just over two minutes left in the half, before SVC scored the final four points of the frame to take a 34-28 lead into the break.
 
Each team shot 41 percent from the field in the opening half, but the difference came at the foul line, with SVC going 10-for-13 from the stripe compared to a 3-for-5 mark by the Lions.
 
As was the case in the first half, the Bearcats got off to a hot start in the second frame, with a Jones layup followed by two layups and a free throw from Bennett upping the lead to 41-29 with 17:14 left to play.
 
The Lions countered with a quick 9-2 run to pull to within five, 43-38, with 14 minutes left, but Saint Vincent began to pull away. A pair of free DeMotte free throws put the Bearcats up 49-40 with 11:58 remaining, before Reed hit a layup and three-pointer in a 40-second span to push the lead to 59-43.
 
Reed's spurt spurred a 14-6 run that was capped off with a Diego Martinez layup with 5:30 left to give SVC a 70-47 lead, before DeMotte's second tray of the night pushed the advantage to 75-51 with 3:33 to go. The Bearcats would then maintain a lead of at least 20 points for the remainder of the game to pull away for the season-opening win.
 
Over their strong second half, Saint Vincent shot 57 percent (16-for-28) en-route to 47 points, while holding Penn State-Shenango to just 29 percent from the field (10-for-34).
 
Two players reached double figures for the Lions, with Cameron Brown scoring 16 points and Eric Howard 10.
 
The Bearcats will now face a quick turnaround, continuing their busy week with a 7 p.m. home matchup against Juniata College on Thursday, Nov. 10, in the Robert S. Carey Center.