LATROBE, Pa. (Feb. 23) – On Saturday night, the Saint Vincent men's basketball team will be playing for its fifth Presidents' Athletic Conference title in program history when it faces off against top-seeded Geneva College in the PAC title bout.
 
The No. 2 seed in the conference tourney, Saint Vincent (23-3) earned its spot in the championship game with an 88-83 overtime win over No. 3 Chatham in the semifinals. Geneva (23-3) also had an exciting semifinal victory, defeating No. 5 Grove City 68-67 on a traditional three-point play with less than one second left in the second half.
 
The Bearcats are 4-1 all-time in the PAC championship game, winning the conference title in four straight seasons between 2012-13 and 2015-16, before falling in the 2017 title match.
 
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Saint Vincent earned the No. 2 seed in the PAC Championship Tournament after a regular season in which it finished 22-3 overall, and 17-3 in conference play. With the runner-up regular finish in the PAC standings, the Bearcats earned a first round bye in the PAC Championship Tournament.
 
In Saint Vincent's 88-83 overtime, semifinal win over Chatham in the semis, four Bearcats scored in double figures, and after a back-and-forth 40 minutes, SVC outscored Chatham 16-11 in the extra session to pull away for the win.

Sophomore guard Dev Ostrowski led the Bearcats with 32 points, with 24 coming in the second half and eight in overtime, while senior guard Osyon Jones added 25 points, reaching the 1,000-point milestone on his game-clinching free throws with less than 10 seconds left in overtime.
 
Ostrowski and Jones were joined in double figures on the scoresheet by senior guard Tayler McNeal (13 points) and sophomore forward Jaden Gales (10). Gales and Jones also corralled 10 rebounds apiece for double-doubles.
 
The No. 1 seed in the PAC Tournament, Geneva is making just its second trip to the conference championship game after a dramatic 68-67 home victory over No. 5 Grove City on Thursday night.  Trailing 67-65 with less than a minute left, the Golden Tornadoes kept the Wolverines scoreless the rest of the way. With one second remaining, Isaac Massie connected on a game-tying layup, was fouled, and buried the subsequent free throw for the win.
 
Four players scored in double figures for the Golden Tornadoes, as Ryan Rachic netted 16 points, Trevor Tipton 15, and Massie and Mark Rachic scoring 11 apiece. Back and forth from the start, the game featured eight ties and 19 lead changes.
 
THE SEASON SERIES
Saint Vincent and Geneva split the regular season series, with each team winning on its home floor.

On Dec. 9 in Latrobe, Jones' offensive putback with three seconds left lifted Saint Vincent to a 72-70 victory over Geneva, and moved the Bearcats to 9-0 on the season.

Jones' bucket capped off an 8-2, game-ending run for Saint Vincent, which trailed by eight points with nine minutes left, six points with seven minutes to go, and by a 68-64 score with 3:33 remaining. Geneva's 59-51 lead with 9:10 to go was the largest spread of the night in the closely contested game between the two longtime rivals which had five ties and five lead changes. Gales (25 points), Ostrowski (20) and Jones (10) all scored in double figures for Saint Vincent, with Gales adding 10 rebounds for the double-double. The Bearcats had a big 42-33 edge in rebounding, while forcing 11 Geneva turnovers and committing just three.
 
Ryan Rachic and Payton Triplett led Geneva with 19 points apiece, with Tipton adding 17.
 
In Beaver Falls on Feb. 3, the Bearcats trailed by 10 points at the half and by 15 with 3:12 remaining, before the Golden Tornadoes held off a late SVC rally to hold on for a 73-69 victory.
 
Ostrowski led Saint Vincent with 20 points and nine rebounds, with Jones adding 14 points and McNeal 11.
 
The Bearcats shot just 35 percent (24-67) from the field, including a 2-17 mark from behind the arc, but kept the game close with a strong night at the foul line, connecting on 19 of 26 attempts. While host Geneva shot 55 percent from the field, the Saint Vincent defense forced 21 turnovers, and converted the miscues into 23 points. The Bearcats also outrebounded the GTs 34-32, with SVC's 16 offensive rebounds turned into 15 second-chance points.
 
Massie topped Geneva with 21 points, going 11-14 from the foul line, while Triplett added 17 points and Ryan Rachic 15.
 
THE MATCHUP
Geneva and Saint Vincent were the top two teams in the PAC for the duration of the season, battling neck-and-neck for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, with the Golden Tornadoes finishing 18-2 in the regular season conference standings, one game ahead of SVC's 17-3 mark.
 
As befitting their identical overall records, the Bearcats and Golden Tornadoes boast very similar statistical lines.
 
Geneva has outscored its opponents by an average of 10.6 per game (76.7 – 66.0), while the Bearcats have an average margin of 9.2 points (83.2 – 74.0). In surrendering just 66.0 points per game, Geneva holds the league's top scoring defense, while SVC's 83.2 points per game rank second in the PAC in scoring offense.
 
Along with its top-ranked scoring defense, the Golden Tornadoes are allowing opponents to shoot just 40.4 percent from the field, the lowest/best mark in the PAC. Geneva and Saint Vincent are 1-2 in the PAC in team field goal percentage, with the Golden Tornadoes shooting at a 47.4 percent clip and the Bearcats 46.9 percent. They are also the top two teams in 3-point field goal percentages, as Geneva hits at a 40.6 percent mark from behind the arc, and Saint Vincent 36.5 percent. Geneva's 9.4 made three-pointers per game are second-most in the league.
 
Saturday night's championship bout will feature five of the top-10 scorers in the PAC. Gales leads the Bearcats – and the conference – with an average of 18.5 points per game, while Ostrowski ranks seventh (17.2) and Jones 10th (15.2). Tipton and Rachic are tied for eighth in the league in scoring, with an average of 15.9 points per game.
 
Triplett ranks second in the league in field goal percentage (.578) and Jones third (.570), while each of the conference's top three three-point shooters will be in action on Saturday night. Tipton leads the PAC with 73 made three-pointers and a .462 percentage, while SVC's Mike Iuzzolino has made 62 three-pointers to rank second and Ostrowski 55 to rank third.
 
PAC PLAYOFF HISTORY
Saturday night will mark the first time the Bearcats and Golden Tornadoes have met in the PAC title match. Four of Saint Vincent's previous five PAC championship game appearances have been against Thomas More College, with one against Waynesburg University. In Geneva's lone PAC championship game in 2020, it was defeated 86-70 at Grove City College.
 
Saint Vincent and Geneva have met just once prior in the PAC postseason, with the Golden Tornadoes pulling out an 80-79 overtime victory in the conference quarterfinals in Latrobe on Feb. 20, 2018.
 
Before the 2018 meeting, when both schools were NAIA members, Saint Vincent faced Geneva in the second round of the 2004 American Mideast Conference tournament, with the Bearcats earning a 71-68 win on a last-second three-pointer from All-America guard and SVC Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Kenny Roberts.
 
UP NEXT
The winner of Saturday night's PAC title game will earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, which begins on Friday, March 1. The first round matchups, host sites, and schedule will be announced on the NCAA's selection show at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 26.