HUNTINGDON, Pa. (Mar. 2)- The Saint Vincent men's basketball team concluded their season with an 81-64 defeat at the hands of Penn State-Behrend in the ECAC Tournament quarterfinals.
 
The Bearcats held a 47-41 lead at the half, but a cold-shooting second half helped the Lions (21-7) to outscore Saint Vincent (23-5) by a 40-17 margin in the second half, advancing Behrend into the ECAC semifinals.
 
Mike Iuzzolino led Saint Vincent with 16 points on 5-10 shooting, including going 4-7 behind the arc. Jordan Lucas-Johnson scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds, while both Jaden Bailey and Jovany Philistin added seven points each.
 
Tayler McNeal, Chris Peccon, and Dillon Hod all scored six points for SVC. Osyon Jones scored four points and Corey Harden and Jake DeMotte rounded out the Bearcats scoring with two points each.
 
After shooting a strong 56 percent (19-34), including an 8-14 clip behind the arc, the Bearcats shot just 16 percent (4-24) and 1-10 from the three-point line in the second half. Behrend on the other hand shot a strong 54 percent from the field (33-61) and 8-18 beyond the three-point line.
 
Saint Vincent shot 9-11 from the foul line as well, while the Lions shot 7-10.
 
The game went back-and-forth over the first several minutes of the first half as Behrend held a slight 18-17 lead. Saint Vincent stormed back with a 21-13 spurt that put them up by seven at 38-31 with four minutes to play in the half.
 
The Saint Vincent lead hovered around 6-8 points for the next four minutes as the Bearcats held the 47-41 lead going into the halftime break.
 
It was all Lions in the second half. Over the first ten minutes of the half, Saint Vincent was limited to just 16 points, while the Lions scored 29 to take a commanding 70-57 lead and they never looked back.
 
After a McNeal layup with 6:53 to go, SVC cut the lead to eight (72-64) but Behrend closed the game out with a 9-0 run to advance them to the ECAC semi's.
 
Penn State-Behrend was led by Tommy DiRienzo who notched a double-double with 32 points and ten rebounds. Matthew McDonough and Michael Sopko scored in double figures for Behrend as well with 17 and ten points respectively.
 
The Bearcats conclude the 2023-2024 season with a 23-5 overall record, while finishing with a 17-3 record in the PAC and being runners up in the PAC Championship Tournament.