LATROBE, Pa. (Nov. 18) – The Saint Vincent men's basketball team used a big late-game run to pull away for a 78-64 victory over Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Westminster College in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.
 
Trailing by one at the mid-point of the second half, the Bearcats (4-0, 2-0 PAC) would outscore the Titans (1-3, 0-2 PAC) 16-4 over the final 5:30 to pull away for the double-digit victory.
 
As has been the case during the team's four-game, season-opening winning streak, the Bearcats boasted a balanced scoring attack, with seven players scoring seven or more points. Dev Ostrowski led both sides with 28 points, while Osyon Jones scored 13, Tayler McNeal 11, Jaden Gales nine, and Mike Iuzzolino eight.
 
"It was a great night for us," said Saint Vincent head coach D.P. Harris. "That's a big conference win for us. Dev was really good tonight, and Iuzzolino was unselfish, playing hard and digging rebounds out. It really was a collective effort for us."

In a physical matchup in which the two teams were whistled for a combined 51 fouls, the Bearcats turned in a strong effort at the foul line, connecting on 32 of 43 attempts (74 percent), led by Ostrowski's 9-10 performance and McNeal's 9-12 showing.
 
"Our hustle was great," said Harris, "and our fight was great. We won the fight tonight, and every night in this league is a fight."
 
The Bearcats looked to take control early in a back-and-forth first half, opening up a 10-3 lead five minutes into play, with four points from Ostrowski. Momentum would then quickly swing the way of the Titans, who countered with a 12-3 run to take their first lead, 15-13, with 9:33 left in the half.
 
Saint Vincent would then rattle off seven unanswered points to take a 20-15 lead, with Iuzzolino, Gales, and Jones all scoring in the run, but the Titans again bounced back, outscoring the hosts 16-7 over the next five minutes to jump in front 31-27 with 2:37 remaining. The teams would then exchange buckets over the closing two minutes, with Westminster taking a 34-30 advantage into the locker room.
 
Westminster extended its lead to 38-32 over the opening three minutes of the second half, before Jones brought the Carey Center crowd to its feet with an emphatic, one-handed slam that cut the SVC deficit to 39-36 with 16:33 left in regulation.
 
After Jones' dunk started the momentum swing in favor of the Bearcats, Ostrowski would then take over. Following the Jones slam, Ostrowski scored five points in a 50-second span that pulled SVC to within one, 42-41, with 15:06 left. With 12:36 to go, Ostrowski then tied the game at 48 with a long three-pointer, and would go onto score six more unanswered points over the next minute of game action to give the Bearcats back the lead, 54-50, with 11:10 remaining.
 
The Titans countered with five straight points to go back in front, 55-54, with 9:26 left, but it marked their final lead of the evening.
 
At the 9:05 mark, SVC took a 56-55 lead on a driving layup by Jones, before the Bearcats hit four free throws over a 50-second span to increase the advantage to 62-58 with 6:39 left. The lead hovered between two and five points over the next several possessions, before another big three from Ostrowski with 3:00 left gave the Bearcats some breathing room, making it 70-62. The Bearcats would then put the game away at the foul line, with Ostrowski and McNeal combining to go a perfect 6-6 from the stripe over the final 2:30.
 
While the Saint Vincent offense was icing the game at the foul line, the Bearcat defense went into shutdown mode down the stretch, forcing four turnovers and allowing just three field goals over the final 6:30.
 
For the game, the Bearcats forced 21 Westminster turnovers and collected 11 steals, with three apiece by McNeal and Corey Harden, and two by Ostrowski.
 
Westminster was led on the evening by Quincy Jones, who recorded a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Reese Leone added 18 points in the loss.
 
The Bearcats will now take to the road for the first time in the 2023-24 season when they travel to PAC rival Thiel for a 7:30 p.m. bout on Tuesday, Nov. 21.