LATROBE, PA (Feb 5)- The Saint Vincent men's basketball team fell to Westminster 84-74 on Wednesday night in the Robert S. Carey Center.

The Bearcats (15-5, 11-4 PAC) could not overcome a tough offensive start throughout the game as they fell to Westminster (6-14, 3-12 PAC) at home.

Missing their leading scorer Dev Ostrowski players across the lineup tried to step up. Terek Crosby led the team in scoring with 15 points and seven rebounds. Mike Iuzzolino added 13 points on 5-10 shooting from the field with three three-pointers.

Westminster started the first four minutes of this one a 10-4 run. Thanks to a mix of turnovers and tough play on the offensive glass from the Bearcats, Westminster was able to get out on the break and found success in early offense. The Bearcats started this half schooling just 2-9 over the first four minutes trailing 12-4.

From there, the teams traded buckets for the next five minutes. Saint Vincent was able to hold Westminster to shoot just 25% in this stretch but thanks to a massive effort on the offensive boards they where able to outshoot the Bearcats by four shots, keeping their lead at 24-16.

The Westminster lead continued to grow as they went on a 15-4 run over the next six minutes to push the lead to 39-20. The Bearctas just could not get anything together on either end.

Both teams just traded the rest of the way as Westminster took a 47-28 lead into halftime. They finished the last 10 minutes of the half on a 23-10 run.

It was a nightmare half for the Bearcats. On offense they shot just 30% from the field and 27% from three with seven turnovers. They could not get to any of their spots on offense, could not get to the line, and could not generate fast-break or advantage offense. 

After inching closer for the first five minutes of the second half the Saint Vincent offense was finally able to put together some consistency, putting together a 13-6 run to cut the lead to 10 at 57-47. 

The Bearcats kept inching their way back to within 12 points, but Westminster always had an answer. After some more back and forth Westminster held a 71-56 lead with about seven

minutes left. The defense just could not spring stops in any meaningful way to overcome the deficit they put themselves in during the first half.

With about two minutes left, the Bearcats were able to put together an 8-1 run to cut the lead to 78-69. They finally played some disciplined defense and played within themselves on offense to consistently find easy offense.

It unfortunately was just too little too late as Westminster was able to convert their free throws down the stretch en route to an upset against the short-handed Bearcats.

The offense improved in the second half, shooting 45% from the field and 44%, but it unfortunately just was not enough to offset the deficit and their defense. They held Westminster to just 34% from the field in the second half but gave up 18 free throw attempts to keep the scoring up in the second half and maintain their lead.

The Bearcats will look to bounce back this Saturday against Washington & Jefferson on Saturday, February 8 at home. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center.