STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (Jan. 22)- The Saint Vincent men's basketball used a strong defensive effort to down Franciscan 70-56 in a Presidents Athletic Conference matchup on Wednesday night in Steubenville.
 
The strong Saint Vincent (13-4, 9-3 PAC) forced 17 Franciscan (10-7, 5-7 PAC), scoring 40 points off of those turnovers in the Bearcats second consecutive PAC victory.
 
Four Bearcats scored in double figures with Mike Iuzzolino and Dev Ostrowski leading the way with 13 points each. Iuzzolino also picked up five steals, while Ostrowski recorded two steals of his own, while also grabbing three boards.
 
Osyon Jones and Terek Crosby were in double figures as well, scoring ten points each for the Bearcats. Jones also grabbed five rebounds, while Crosby secured two of his own and dished out one assist.
 
Matthew Puodziukaitis added eight points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Jaden Gales and Maxwell Gordon both scored six points, while Gales also grabbed 10 rebounds and Gordon totaled five boards of his own.
 
It was a slow start offensively for both the Bearcats and Barons. The score was just 6-6 five minutes through the opening portion of the half. The offensive struggle continued over the next five minutes as a three from Crosby and two-point basket were the only points scored over the next four minutes of play as Saint Vincent held a slight 9-8 advantage.
 
Franciscan scored the next four points to take a 12-11 advantage, but then the Bearcats took full control. Saint Vincent went on a 15-0 run, holding Franciscan scoreless for over six minutes of game time to take a double-digit 26-12 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the opening half.
 
Over the next five minutes, the Saint Vincent lead hovered between 13-15 points as they still led 30-17 with just over one minute remaining in the half. Franciscan cut the lead to 30-19, before a layup from Gordon pushed the lead back to 32-19 with 20 seconds remaining.
 
The Bearcats held Franciscan without a bucket in the final 20 seconds of the half as the score was 32-19 Saint Vincent at the break.
 
Saint Vincent shot 40% (12-30) in the half, while limiting the Barons to shoot just 23% (7-31) in the first half. Iuzzolino and Crosby led the way for the Bearcats in the half, scoring seven points each. Ostrowski also scored six in the opening half for SVC.
 
Over the first 13 minutes of the second half, the Bearcats lead hovered around 14 points. Franciscan had cut the lead to nine, but Saint Vincent answered going up by 18, before the barons got it back down to 14 (56-42) with a little over seven minutes left in the half.
 
The Bearcats controlled the final seven minutes and change as they went on to secure their second consecutive road PAC victory.
 
Saint Vincent shot 42% (28-66) from the field, while their strong defense limited Franciscan to shoot just 33% (21-63) from the field. The Barons were just 3-14 from the arc, while SVC was 6-19 from the three-point line.
 
The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, January 25, hosting Thiel in a PAC matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center on Saturday afternoon.