NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (Jan. 20) – The Saint Vincent College men's basketball team was defeated 90-80 in a Presidents' Athletic Conference bout at Westminster College.
The Bearcats (17-1, 12-1 PAC) saw four players score in double figures, but were unable to overcome a sluggish start and saw their program-record winning streak snapped.
Dev Ostrowski led the Bearcats with 19 points, while
Osyon Jones added 18,
Jaden Gales 17 and
Mike Iuzzolino 17.
Gales tied for game-high honors with nine rebounds, with teammate
Corey Harden coming off the bench to snatch seven boards.
The Bearcats finished the afternoon with a 36-35 edge in rebounds and forced 14 Westminster turnovers while only committing 11, but the Titans shot 55 percent from the field for the game, compared to SVC's 43 percent mark. Westminster also held the edge at the foul line, connecting on 24 of 28 freebies to SVC's 16-28 performance.
Ostrowski connected on a three-pointer on the Bearcats' opening possession to give them a 3-2 lead, but the Titans immediately responded with a 12-3 run to take a 14-6 lead five minutes into play. Ostrowski answered with a bucket to cut the deficit to six, but Westminster answered right back with a 14-5 run, capped off with a pair of three-pointers, to open up a 28-11 lead with 9:16 left in the half. SVC twice cut the deficit to 12 points over the next seven minutes, with layups by Ostrowski and Jones making it 39-27 with 2:15 left, but the Titans gradually increased the lead over the final minutes of the half, entering the intermission with a 47-32 lead.
Saint Vincent shot just 35 percent (11-31) from the field and 52 percent (9-17) from the line in the first half, while Westminster was 17-33 from the field, 4-8 from distance and 9-10 at the stripe.
Saint Vincent looked to chip away at the deficit early in the second half, scoring five of the first seven points to close the gap to 49-37 on an Ostrowski fastbreak layup with 16:02 left, but the Titans responded with a 17-9 run over the next seven minutes to take a 66-46 lead with 9:15 to go. The Bearcats would twice cut the deficit to 13 over the next several minutes, with a three-pointer from Iuzzolino and four straight points from Ostrowski making it 70-57 with just over six minutes left, but the Titans again answered with another lengthy run to put the game out of reach.
Trey DePietro led Westminster with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Quincy Jones added 18 points.
The Bearcats will now have a weeklong respite before returning home to face Waynesburg University on Saturday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.
