NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (Jan. 21) – Behind a balanced offense and an impressive second half performance, the Saint Vincent men's basketball team came from behind to earn a 73-58 road victory over Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Westminster College.
 
Trailing by two points at the break, the Bearcats (11-7, 7-6 PAC) outscored the Titans (11-7, 9-4 PAC) 41-24 over the game's final 20 minutes, highlighted by a 23-9 surge midway through the second half, to extend their winning streak to four games and avenge an early season home loss to Westminster.
 
All five starters scored in double figures for Saint Vincent. Osyon Jones and Mike Iuzzolino led the way with 16 points apiece, while Jaden Gales totaled 14 points, Shemar Bennett 12 and Tayler McNeal 10. Gales and Bennett each grabbed 11 rebounds to record double-doubles.
 
The Saint Vincent defense held Westminster to just 33 percent (22-for-65) from the field and forced 17 Titan turnovers. Iuzzolino recorded a game-high four steals and Jones three, while Bennett blocked four shots and Gales three.
 
The first half was back-and-forth from the start, with the two teams sharing five ties and 14 lead changes. Neither team held more than a three-point lead in the half, with Westminster taking a 34-32 lead into the intermission. SVC shot just 11-for-29 from the field and 0-for-4 from behind the arc, but kept the game close with a 10-for-13 mark from the foul line.
 
Westminster outscored SVC 7-4 over the first five minutes of the second half to open up a 41-36 lead, but the Bearcats promptly responded. After a driving layup by Gales, Jones intercepted the ensuing in-bounds pass and fed Gales for an easy bucket underneath to make it a 1-point game. Following a driving layup by Iuzzolino, Andrew Reed connected on a pair of free throws to give the lead back to SVC, 44-43, with 12:14 left in regulation, and the Bearcats kept the momentum.
 
On their next possession, Bennett connected on a conventional three-point play, before Gales followed suit less than a minute later to put the Bearcats up 50-45 with 9:41 remaining. Jones again picked off the inbounds pass and sank the uncontested layup to make it 52-45, and the lead continued to grow, as a Bennett foul shot and layups by Jones and McNeal gave SVC a 57-45 advantage with 7:59 left in regulation.
 
Westminster tried to chip away at the deficit, eventually pulling to within seven, 63-56, with 4:45 left in regulation, but a left-wing three-pointer from Iuzzolino pushed the SVC lead back into double figures, where it would stay for the game's final 2:30. The Bearcats iced the victory from the foul line, shooting 7-for-8 in the last two minutes to end the contest on a 10-2 run and account for the 15-point final margin.
 
Over the decisive second half, Saint Vincent shot a solid 46 percent (12-for-26) from the field and 80 percent (16-for-20) from the line, while limiting the Titans to just 29 percent (9-for-31) from the field and 60 percent (6-for-10) from the stripe.
 
Andrew Clark and James Tyler each scored 12 points to top Westminster, while Clark also added 12 rebounds for the double-double.
 
The Bearcats will now return home for a pair of PAC matchups, beginning with a 7 p.m. bout against Waynesburg University on Wednesday, Jan. 25, in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.