BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (Feb. 18) – The Saint Vincent men's basketball team was defeated in overtime, 98-87, at Geneva College in the 2022-23 regular season finale.
 
After the Bearcats (15-10, 11-9 Presidents' Athletic Conference) came back from a 17-point deficit midway through the first half to take a second half lead, the host Golden Tornadoes (17-8, 14-6 PAC) used a late second half run to force overtime, before pulling away over the extra session.
 
With the loss, Saint Vincent will now enter the PAC Championship Tournament as the No. 7 seed and will travel to No. 2 Allegheny for first round action on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
 
All five Saint Vincent starters scored in double figures in the defeat, led by Mike Iuzzolino, who collected 19 points, fueled by five three-pointers. Shemar Bennett recorded 14 points, Jaden Gales 12, Osyon Jones 11 and Andrew Reed 10.
 
Reed also added a team-high six assists, while Bennett paced SVC with seven rebounds, though the Bearcats were outrebounded 36-29 for the game.
 
The Golden Tornadoes opened the game on fire, connecting on five three-pointers in the opening six minutes of play to jump out to a 19-6 lead. Geneva's advantage eventually swelled to 30-13 with 8:42 left in the half, before the Bearcats began a big charge, kicked off with a conventional three-point play by Gales with 8:18 left.
 
After Jones cut the gap to 30-18 with a layup at the 8-minute mark, Iuzzolino pulled SVC back to within single digits on a long three with 7:26 left in the half. Jones would then score two baskets in a 30-second frame to close the gap to 30-25, before Iuzzolino connected on another trey and then took a steal coast-to-coast to cap off an 18-2 SVC run and pull the Bearcats to within 32-31 with 3:09 until the break. Geneva would eventually enter the half with a 36-33 lead.
 
Geneva's lead would hover between three and five points over the opening three minutes of the second half, but Iuzzolino connected on three-pointers on three straight trips down the court to tie the game at 48 with 15:55 left in regulation. After Bennett scored a pair of layups, Reed followed by hitting a mid-range jumper and then a long three to give SVC its first lead of the day, 57-53, with 13:25 to go.
 
Geneva battled back to tie the game at 64 with 8:32 remaining, but SVC would again jump ahead, taking a 72-68 advantage on another Reed trey with 5:39 left. Over the next four minutes, the Golden Tornadoes would twice pull to within one, but Tayler McNeal connected on a layup, picked off a steal on Geneva's ensuing trip, and then connected on a free throw to give the Bearcats their largest lead, 80-74, with 1:34 to go.
 
A three-pointer and a layup pulled the GT's to within one, 80-79, with 33 seconds left, before Reed hit a pair of free throws to give SVC a three-point cushion with 28 seconds to go. On their next trip, Geneva promptly buried a three to tie the game at 82, before SVC's final possession came up empty to force overtime.
 
The extra session belonged to the hosts, as Geneva began on an 11-0 run to take a 93-82 lead with 2:29 left. Jake DeMotte hit a pair of free throws, before Logan Karvoski connected on a foul line jumper, to pull to within eight, 95-87, but SVC would get no closer, as the GT's put the game away for good at the foul line over the final 90 seconds.
 
Saint Vincent shot 47 percent from the field for the game, including an 8-for-18 showing from behind the arc, but struggled at the foul line, going just 11-for-23. Geneva shot an impressive 62 percent from the floor and 12-for-18 from deep, while cashing in on 24 of 26 attempts from the foul line.
 
Lyle Tipton led both sides with 29 points, going 3-for-4 from behind the arc and 13-for-14 from the line, while Trevor Tipton went for 24 points, including five three-pointers.
 
The Bearcats will now turn their sights to the PAC postseason. They split the regular season series against their first round opponent, Allegheny, with each team winning on the road.