GREENVILLE, Pa. (Nov. 23) -- The Thiel College men's basketball team shot 63% from the field in the second half to down Saint Vincent 73-70 in a thrilling Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) classic Saturday afternoon on Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium.

The Tomcats rise to 3-3 on the year and 2-1 in PAC play while the Bearcats drop to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

A Gabriel Gonzalez (Merida, Venezuela/Southwest Miami) basket made it 69-65 with 4:11 remaining. Neither side put any points on the board for the next 2:07 before a Bearcats layup brought it back to a one-score game (69-67). Marlon Ellerbee (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) missed a layup with 30 seconds left coming out of a Thiel timeout but corralled the rebound, got fouled and canned both of the one-and-one free throws to make it 71-67.

The Bearcats responded with an and-one on the following possession to make it 71-70 with 19 seconds left. Mike Brown (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) was fouled on the following possession and connected on both free throws to make it 73-70 with 14 seconds left. The Bearcats got off a pair of 3-pointers in the games dying seconds, including one at the horn that would've tied it, but could not connect.

Gonzalez continued his strong senior campaign by tallying 16 points on 7-of-9 to go with three rebounds.  Ellerbee added 7 points on 2-of-5 from the field and 3-of-4 at the line to go with a team-high-tying seven rebounds and team-best three assists. Brown's lone 2 points of the game came on his free throws at the end. He pulled down three boards, tied for the team high with two steals and had a pair of assists

The Tomcats clung to a 50-47 lead with 12:16 left in the second half before using a 12-3 run over the next 3:49 to lead 60-50 with 8:38 remaining. Ellerbee, Gonzalez, Rob Thomas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills), Logan Lentz (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) and John Morgan (Indianapolis, Ind./Lebanon) each collected baskets during the stretch.

Thomas posted a team- and career-best 18 points on 9-of-11 to go with five rebounds in 25 minutes of action off the bench.

Lentz pulled down a career-best seven rebounds and had 3 points while providing a spark from the bench. Morgan added 4 points and three boards in reserve. 

The Bearcats came out of the gates strong to open the contest and led 17-5 at the 13:20 mark. A Khamari Accursio-Harris (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) layup made it 25-21 before a pair of baskets from Thomas and Gonzalez knotted things at 25 and capped off a 10-0 Thiel run at the 3:08 mark of the opening half. Anthony Henderson II (Miramar, Fla./Somerset Academy) scored the final 4 points of the half for the Blue and Gold as the game was tied at 30 at the break.

Accursio-Harris totaled 15 points on 5-of-13 and made Thiel's lone 3-pointer of the contest. He was 4-of-4 at the charity stripe while pulling down six boards and tying for the team high in steals (two). Henderson II pitched in 8 points on 2-of-2 and 4-of-6 at the line while also tying for the team high in steals.

Thiel shot 63% (17 of 27) in the second half and 52.8% (28 of 53) for the game. At the line, Thiel went 16-for-23 (69.6%), including 8-of-10 (80%) in the second half. Saint Vincent shot at a 45.3% (29 of 64) clip for the game, including just 22.2% (4 of 17) from beyond the arc.

Thiel out rebounded the Bearcats 39-26 for the game and doubled the visitors in boards (22-11) in the second half. 

Men's Basketball returns to action Tuesday when they take on reigning PAC champs Geneva next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. from Metheny Fieldhouse.