MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (Dec. 20)- The Saint Vincent men's basketball team fell just short against 21st ranked Tufts in a 66-63 loss in their final game on their road trip to Miami.

The Bearcats (6-4, 2-0 PAC) trailed by as many as 15 points to Tufts (8-2) in the second half, but came the whole way back with a couple of opportunities to tie it late in the game, but fell just short.

Jaden Gales had a big game for the Bearcats coming off of the bench. Gales scored 22 points on 9-15 shooting, while also grabbing seven rebounds to lead the Bearcats. Jevontae Jones added nine points and four rebounds, while Terek Crosby added eight points of his own.

Maxwell Gordon and Mike Iuzollino both scored six points each, while Gordon grabbed eight rebounds.

It was a back-and-forth opening half with Tufts leading for the majority of the half, but the Bearcats kept it within single digits. Tufts led by a slight 30-27 margin at the half.

In the second half, it was all Tufts for the opening 13 minutes as they built a 15 point lead (56-41) over the Bearcats with just over seven minutes to play. 

However, over the next seven plus minutes, Saint Vincent went on a 20-7 run to cut the lead to just two (63-61) with two minutes to play. The Bearcats had a couple of trips down the court with the opportunity to tie, but came up just short as Tufts held on to defeat SVC.

Saint Vincent shot 38% from the field, while Tufts shot 40% on their end. The Bearcats were an efficient 14-17 from the foul line. Tufts secured 50 rebounds, while the Bearcats totaled just 33 of their own.

The Bearcats return to action on Wednesday, December 31 with a home New Years Eve matchup against Carnegie Mellon University. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center.