Box Score (CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - Senior point guard Daniel Whelan (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Thomas More College men's basketball team to a 78-70 win over the University of Cincinnati-Clermont College tonight (Wednesday, December 28, 2011) on the first day of the Coach Jim Connor Classic at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
With the win, the Saints improve to 8-3 and advance to play seventh-ranked Williams College, who was a 79-73 winner over Ohio Northern University in the earlier game today, in the championship game of the Coach Connor Classic tomorrow at 5 p.m. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 10-11 and will play Ohio Northern in the consolation game tomorrow at 3 p.m.
Thomas More raced out to a 23-13 lead when Whelan made a lay-up with 10:08 to play in the first half. UC-Clermont used a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 23-18 when Davyne Davis made a three-pointer with 9:12 to play in the half. The Saints answered with an 11-6 run to extend the lead to 34-24 with 5:17 to play in the opening half when Whelan made a jumper. The Cougars closed out the half on a 15-6 run capped by a Davis three-pointer with five-seconds to play in the half to cut the lead to 40-39 at halftime.
The Saints opened the second half on a 13-8 run to extend the lead to 53-47 when sophomore power forward Josef Marshall (Dayton, Ohio/Trotwood Madison) made a jumper with 14:37 to play in the game. The Cougars answered with a 21-13 run capped by a Willie Slusher lay-up to take a 68-66 lead with 6:12 to play in the game. Thomas More then closed out the game on a 12-2 run capped by a dunk by junior small forward Phil Feinberg (Tempe, Ariz./Corona Del Sol) with nine-seconds to play in the game for the 78-70 victory.
Joining Whelan in double-figure scoring was Feinberg with 16 points and senior center Colt Stafford (Groveport, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double. Whelan also led the team in assists with six and steals with two.
