LATROBE, Pa. (Feb. 10) – The Saint Vincent College men's basketball team held off a late charge to earn an 87-84 Senior Day victory over Washington & Jefferson to clinch its 18th 20-win season in program history.
 
The Bearcats (20-3, 15-3 PAC) led wire-to-wire, but were unable to put away the pesky Presidents (8-15, 7-11 PAC) until forcing a miss on a potential game-tying three-pointer at the final buzzer.
 
Mike Iuzzolino led five Bearcat scorers in double figures, tying for game-high honors with 21 points, while Tayler McNeal and Osyon Jones (left) celebrated their senior days in style, recording 18 and 16 points, respectively. Jaden Gales recorded a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double, and Dev Ostrowski added 11 points.
 
With the victory, the Bearcats locked up at least the No. 2 seed, and a home semifinal game, in the upcoming PAC Championship Tournament, slated to begin on Feb. 20.
 
Saint Vincent stole the momentum early, jumping out to a 10-0 lead just 80 seconds into play, highlighted by eight points from Iuzzolino, on two three-pointers and a driving layup. The early lead eventually swelled to 12 points, 16-4, on two Iuzzolino free throws, before the Presidents countered with an 8-2 surge to pull to within 18-14 with 13:55 left in the half.

The Bearcats answered the early W&J surge with one of their own, rattling off seven unanswered points, with four from McNeal and three from Gales, to regain a double-digit lead, 25-14, with just over 12 minutes left in the half. The Presidents gradually chipped away at the deficit, eventually pulling to within three, 36-33, with 4:50 to go, before buckets from Jones and Iuzzolino, and a long three from Ostrowski, upped the hosts' lead to 45-35 at the two-minute mark. The teams traded baskets down the stretch, before W&J scored the final four points of the half to pull to within 46-41 at the break.
 
Over the high-scoring opening 20 minutes, Saint Vincent shot a strong 52 percent from the field (17-33), including a 4-8 mark from behind the arc, along with a strong 8-10 showing from the foul line.
 
Behind four points from Jones and another trifecta from Ostrowski, the Bearcats extended their lead to 55-46 with 16:33 left in regulation, but the Presidents answered right back with an 8-2 run to close to within 58-54 with 14 minutes to go. SVC gradually increased its lead over the next five minutes, with a conventional three-point play from McNeal and a pair of free throws from Iuzzolino again making it a double-digit game, 68-58, at the 10-minute mark.
 
The Saint Vincent lead hovered between seven and nine points over the next five minutes, but the Presidents still refused to go away, rattling off an 11-4 run, which included a pair of three-pointers and three free throws after a fouled three-point attempt, to make it a one-point game, 83-82, with 1:50 remaining.
 
It remained a one-point SVC lead with 49 seconds left, after Iuzzolino and W&J's Alex Acosta traded jumpers over a 20-second span, before Iuzzolino drew a quick foul. After making the first attempt at the line to make it 86-84, his second try was off the mark. Ostrowski corralled the offensive rebound and fed a quick pass to Gales, who was promptly fouled and split the two free throws to make it a three-point game with 24 seconds left.
 
On the ensuing trip, the Presidents worked the clock inside single digits, but a last second three-pointer from the corner was missed to seal the three-point SVC victory.
 
The Bearcats shot 51 percent (30-59) from the field for the game, compared to W&J's 43 percent (28-65) showing. The Presidents finished the evening with seven three-pointers to the Bearcats' five, but SVC connected on 22 of 30 free throws on the night, including a 14-20 performance in the second half.
 
Acosta led W&J with 21 points, while Nick Gearhart scored 18, including the 1,000th of his career. Matt Seidl (13) and Mazza (12) also scored in double figures in the loss, with Seidl snaring a team-best six rebounds.
 
Prior to the game, McNeal, Jones, Corey Harden, Diego Martinez and Mattias Bugallo were recognized for their careers in the green and gold with on-court Senior Day festivities.
 
The Bearcats will now close out the 2023-24 regular season with a pair of road games, beginning with a trip north to take on Allegheny College on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m.