BETHANY, W.V. (Dec. 16)- The Saint Vincent men's basketball team rallied with a huge second half comeback to defeat Bethany 82-79 on the road to keep their perfect record alive.
 
The Bearcats improve to 10-0 overall, making this their best start since 2002-2003 when they opened the season 10-0. SVC is a perfect 7-0 in the PAC as well, putting them in sole possession of first place heading into Christmas break.
 
The Bearcats trailed by 14 at the halftime (44-30) but rallied to outscore the Bison 52-35 in the second half, including opening the half up on a 13-3 run over the first few minutes.
 
Jaden Gales was a key figure for the Bearcats in the win, scoring a game-high 25 points, while grabbing six rebounds and recording three blocks as well. Dev Ostrowski scored 20-points for SVC as well, while also grabbing six rebounds.
 
Osyon Jones was the third Saint Vincent player to score in double figures with 19 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Mike Iuzzolino scored six points for SVC and Tayler McNeal, Jaden Bailey, and Corey Harden all scored four to round out the scoring for the Bearcats.
 
It was all Bethany in the first half as the Bison opened up to a quick 6-1 lead, holding Saint Vincent without a field goal for the first six minutes and change of the game. Jones scored the first field goal of the game for SVC with 13:37 remaining in the opening half.
 
The Bearcats continued to chip away eventually cutting the Bethany lead to 15-13 just over halfway through the half. The Bison got their lead back up to five at 24-19 with 6:02 left in the half. Bethany continued on the attack, closing out the half outscoring Saint Vincent 20-11 over the final six minutes and change of the half, holding as much as a 15-point lead.
 
Bethany scored 11 points on second chances in the half and outscored the Bearcats 22-18 in the paint in the half as well. Gales led the way for Saint Vincent in the half with 11 points and four rebounds, while Ostrowski and Jones both scored seven points in the half.
 
Saint Vincent was held to 35 percent shooting in the half (12-34) and went just 2-9 behind the arc.
 
It was a complete reversal in the second half as the Bearcats stormed out of the gates immediately out of the locker room. Over the opening six minutes of the first half, SVC went on a 23-8 run to take their first lead of the game at 53-52.
 
Over the course of that run, Gales and Ostrowski scored 11 of the 23 points for the Bearcats and Jones added six points. The score would go back-and-forth over the next several minutes with still holding a one-point lead at 65-64 after a Bethany bucket with 8:58 to go in the half.
 
The back-and-forth second half continued, and after two-free throws from Ostrowski the Saint Vincent lead was up to three at 80-77 with 1:18 to go.
 
After a miss by the Bearcats on their offensive end, the Bison stormed down the other end and after a long possession they cut the lead to one again with another layup as the score was 80-79 with just six seconds left.
 
On the ensuing inbounds, Gales was fouled and nailed two clutch free throws for SVC and the defense sealed the deal with a stop on the opposite end to secure the Bearcats tenth straight win to open the season.
 
After a poor shooting first half, the Bearcats shot an impressive 72 percent (21-29) shooting in the second half to improve their total over the course of the game to a strong 52 percent (33-63). Saint Vincent was also clutch from the foul line only missing two shots the entire game, going 13-15.
 
Saint Vincent took advantage on the run and scored 28 fast break points and 56 points in the paint to secure the road win as well.
 
The Bearcats have a quick turnaround as they travel to Moon Township tomorrow, Sunday, December 17 for a matchup against division-one Robert Morris with a 2 p.m. scheduled tip-off. SVC will then travel to Miami for two games next week before taking a couple weeks off for the Christmas holiday.