NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (Dec. 2)- The Saint Vincent men's basketball team picked up another conference win on the road against Westminster on Monday night by a final score of 82-69.
 
The Bearcats (5-3, 2-2 PAC) led this one the entire way. Westminster (2-5, 0-3 PAC) was able to make the game ugly at times, but the Bearcats leaned on their defense and their size advantage inside to get a lead and keep it.
 
It was a balanced scoring effort from Saint Vincent with all 5 starters scoring in double digits. Jevontae Jones led the way scoring 16 points on 7-9 shooting from the field with seven rebounds and three assists. Osyon Jones added 15 on 4-8 shooting from the field and forced his way to the line all game going 7-12 from the line. Dev Ostrowski and Maxwell Gordon helped round out the scoring with 12 points each. Mike Iuzzolino added ten points for Saint Vincent as well.
 
The game started out slow as both teams struggled to settle in. After 4 minutes both teams were shooting well below 40% from the field but thanks to some fantastic effort on the boards and some quick hands-on defense the Bearcats were able to double up Westminster in shots over this stretch, leading 9-2.
 
Over the next several minutes the game ground to a halt as Westminster layup was the only scoring play. The Bearcats still led 9-4 with 12 minutes to go in the half, but their offense was nonexistent.
 
Shooting just 25% from the field at this point in the game Saint Vincent just could not find high quality shots to begin the game and the few looks they did find were not falling. On the flip side their defense was lights out. Causing turnovers and making the Westminster ball handlers uncomfortable the Bearcats were able to hold Westminster to just 4 points over the opening 8 minutes of the game.
 
From there, the offenses started to find life as both teams found more consistent scoring. Westminster was able to get to the rim and convert at the basket while the Bearcats found success in the middle of the floor, either at the rim from midrange. After an 8-8 spurt the score stood at 17-12 Bearcats.
 
The Bearcats offense then fully came to life, shooting 8/10 the rest of the half thanks to their height advantage inside and some great decision making when the help or doubles came. They kept the defense up too, going on a 20-8 run over the final 7 minutes off the half to lead 37-20 at halftime.
 
Despite a slow start on offense the Bearcats were dominate in the first half. On offense they were able to get into the paint at will with 24 of their 37 points coming in the paint. They were also able to use their height advantage inside to grab 8 offensive rebounds which gave them high percentage shots inside. On defense the Bearcats locked it down.
 
They held Westminster to just 33% shooting from the field at halftime thanks to strong perimeter defense. They were also able to force 10n turnovers by playing the passing lanes aggressively and putting a lot of pressure on the ball handlers. The Bearcats shot just 2/9 from the free throw line and just 3/10 from deep, but for the most part the Bearcats handled business in the first half.
 
 
The teams went back and forth in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. The Bearcats struggled to find offense again but kept up the rebounding and turnover recreation to give themselves more shots which helped them keep up with Westminster. The Titans had a 25-21 advantage to that point in the second half, but the Bearcats still held the lead 58-45.
 
Despite some Westminster runs to cut the lead to single digits the Bearcats always had a response to push the lead right back out. Westminster implemented an aggressive zone defense in the finals 10 minutes of the game which worked for and against them. They were able to force more turnovers and get on some breaks, but their aggressiveness worked against them as the Bearcats were able to break the press and get easy looks at the rim. When it was all said and done the Bearcats pulled out the win 82-69.

It was not the best offensive game from the Bearcats as they shot just 46% from the field, 30% from deep, and 48% from the free throw line. Westminster played physical defense all game which made finishing inside difficult and gave the Bearcats some trouble on the perimeter, especially in the 2nd half.
 
 However, their defense came to play especially in the first half. They held Westminster to 44% shooting from the field and forced 15 turnovers. The second half was a back-and-forth affair, but the Bearcats defense in the first half gave them a lead they never let go, getting Saint Vincent another double-digit win.
 
The Bearcats will come back to defend home court hosting their annual 'Christmas in the Carey' game on Saturday, December 7 against Geneva. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 6:00 p.m. at the Robert S. Carey Center.