LATROBE, Pa. (Feb. 8)- The Saint Vincent men's basketball team secured an important 93-90 Presidents Athletic Conference victory against Washington and Jefferson on Saturday evening.
After leading by 10 (92-82) with 57 seconds left in the game, the Bearcats (16-5, 12-4 PAC) held off the Presidents (16-6, 12-5 PAC) late run to earn the three-point victory on the road.
Five Bearcats scored in double figures in the offensive outburst.
Mike Iuzzolino led the way for Saint Vincent with 21 points, while also grabbing six rebounds.
Jevontae Jones added 17 points and three boards, while
Dev Ostrowski scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Terek Crosby scored 11 points and
Osyon Jones added 10 points and three rebounds.
Maxwell Gordon and
Jaden Gales bot scored eight points as well, while
Matthew Puodziukaitis rounded out the scoring for Saint Vincent with four points.
Saint Vincent quickly jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first five minutes of the half. The Bearcats remained on the attack, increasing their lead to double figures at 30-19 over the next five minutes of play. Over the remainder of the half, the Presidents closed out the half by outscoring the Bearcats 25-16 to cut the lead to 46-44 at the half.
Over the first 10 minutes of the second half, there was a lot of back-and-forth physical play as the Bearcats still held a two-point lead at 63-61. Saint Vincent then went on a quick 9-2 run capping off the run with a dunk from Gales to put SVC up 72-63 with a little over nine minutes remaining in the half. The Bearcats lead over the next few minutes would grow to double figures at 14 (85-71) after a layup from Gordon with four minutes left.
Saint Vincent's lead hovered in double figures over the next few minutes as the Bearcats led 92-82 with 57 seconds remaining. W&J went on a quick 8-0 spurt to cut the lead to 92-90 and after a Saint Vincent turnover, W&J had a chance for what would have been a game-winning three-pointer. The Presidents missed the three and
Jevontae Jones iced the game at the foul line for Saint Vincent to hold on for the win.
SVC shot an impressive 32-65 (49.2%) from the field and an impressive 7-17 (41.2%) mark from the three-point line. The Bearcats also shot 22-27 from the foul line over the course of the game.
The Bearcats return to action on Wednesday, February 12 with a trip to Waynesburg for another PAC matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Waynesburg on Wednesday.
