STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (Feb. 17) – The Saint Vincent men's basketball team wrapped up the 2023-24 regular season with an 83-70 road win over Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Franciscan University.
The Bearcats, who hold the No. 2 seed in the upcoming PAC Championship Tournament, closed out the regular season at 22-3, their best regular-season record since posting an identical mark in 2008-09.
Jaden Gales led four Saint Vincent scorers in double figures with 25 points, with
Mike Iuzzolino adding 19,
Osyon Jones 14, and
Dev Ostrowski 11. Gales added team-highs of nine rebounds and four blocked shots, while Iuzzolino collected three steals and Ostrowski and
Tayler McNeal dished five assists apiece.
Saint Vincent shot a strong 57 percent from the field, connecting on 34 of 60 attempts, including a 6-14 mark from behind the arc. Each of the Bearcats' top three scorers shot at greater than 50 percent on the evening, with Gales going 9-13, Iuzzolino 8-12, and Jones 7-11.
The two teams went back-and-forth in the early stages of the first half, with three ties and four lead changes over the first eight minutes. Trailing 17-13 with 11:47 left in the half, the Bearcat full court trap forced steals on back-to-back trips that led to two Iuzzolino buckets in a 9-second span to tie the game at 17. The two squads traded baskets over the next few trips, before the Bearcat ended the first half on a surge, kicked off by Gales three-pointer at the 7-minute mark that put SVC in front, 26-24.
McNeal,
Jaden Bailey, and Iuzzolino added baskets over the next three minutes to open up a 33-28 lead, before three Gales free throws and a driving layup from Jones capped off the 12-4 run and gave SVC its first double-digit lead, 38-28, with 2:33 left in the frame. The margin remained 10 points at the half, with the Bearcats taking a 43-33 lead into the break.
Franciscan opened the second half with three straight three-pointers from Joseph Ciola in a 90-second span to quickly trim the gap to 45-42 with 18 minutes left, but SVC answered right back, with Gales and Ostrowski connecting on trifectas to push the lead back to nine, 53-44, with 15:26 left. The advantage eventually grew to 12 when layups by Jones and
Corey Harden made the score 64-52 with just over 11 minutes left to play.
The Barons continued to chip away at the deficit, using three more treys to pull to within five, 73-68, with 5:03 to go, but Ostrowski, Jones and McNeal all scored over the next 90 seconds to push the lead back into double figures at 79-68, and the Bearcats cruised down the stretch to close out their fourth consecutive victory.
Josh Zimmerman led Franciscan with 24 points, while Frank Bellissimo scored 14 and Alan Wood 13.
Saint Vincent will now have a four-day layoff to prep for its PAC semifinal on Thursday, Feb. 22. The Bearcats will face the winner of Tuesday's PAC quarterfinal matchup between Chatham and Bethany.
Thursday's PAC semifinal tilt will begin at 7 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Student Center. Tickets will go on sale beginning on Monday, Feb. 19, at 9 a.m., and can be purchased in advance by calling 724-805-2111. Reserved seats are $7 and general admission $5, while Saint Vincent College employees, Saint Vincent College students, and students of PAC member institutions will be admitted free with valid ID. A limited number of tickets will also be available for purchase in the Carey Center on gameday beginning at 5 p.m.
