NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (Feb. 9) – The Bearcat men's basketball team was unable to recover from a sluggish first half in a 78-61 loss at Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Westminster.

Osyon Jones led three Saint Vincent scorers in double figures, bucketing 15 points, while Jayven Millen tallied 13 points, on 4-for-5 shooting, and Nelson Etuk (pictured) 11 on a 5-for-7 mark from the floor, while adding 10 rebounds for his third double-double of his sophomore campaign. The Bearcats shot a respectable 47 percent from the field for the game, including a robust 59 percent (16-for-27) mark over the second half, but they were unable to recover from a 15-point halftime deficit.

After Westminster raced out to an early 5-0 lead, Saint Vincent countered, with three-pointers from Etuk and Kaleb Fields to cut the deficit to 7-6 with 13:05 left in the half. The Westminster lead would hover between two and three points over the next few possessions before the hosts embarked on a lengthy 14-4 run to double up the Bearcats, 24-12, with 5:28 left in the half.

A dunk from Millien, a jumper from Davon Jackson and a three-pointer by Dominic Jennings brought SVC to within 10, 29-19, with just over two minutes left in the half, but Westminster scored eight straight points to up its advantage to 37-19 with 30 seconds to go. A buzzer-beating three-pointer from Millien sent the Bearcats into the locker room trailing 37-22.

The Titan lead swelled to 50-32 in the first five minutes of the second half, but SVC responded with a jumper from Jones, a trey from Fields and a fast-break dunk by Etuk to pull to within 52-39 with 13 minutes to go. Westminster then scored on four of its next five trips to open up a 61-43 lead with 8:49 left. The Bearcats would go on to score on 10 of their final 16 possessions of the game, but the 18-point deficit proved too much to overcome.

Along with his 13 points, Millien also led SVC with four steals, while Etuk and Davon Jackson shared the team lead with three assists each.

Four players scored in double figures for the Titans, led by 20 points from Daniel Ritter and 19 from Tyler James. Josh Hutcherson recorded a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double, as the Titans out-rebounded SVC 41-30 for the contest.

The Bearcats will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 12, welcoming Franciscan University to the Robert S. Carey Student Center for a 3 p.m. tip.