Box Score (CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - The second-seeded Thomas More College men's basketball team rallied for a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat third-seeded Thiel College, 86-80, tonight (Thursday, February 21, 2013) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament semifinal game at the Connor Convocation Center.
With the win, the Saints improve to 23-4 overall and advance to the PAC Championship Game on Saturday (February 23), where they will play first-seeded Saint Vincent College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Carey Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. With the loss, the Tomcats end the season at 14-10.
Thomas More took an early 11-6 lead with 15:04 to play in the first half when junior point guard D'Carlo Hayes (Louisville, Ky./Male) made a lay-up. Thiel answered with a 14-0 to take a 20-11 lead on a Khari Bess lay-up with 10:38 to play in the half. The Saints responded with an 11-4 run to cut the lead to 24-22 with 6:57 to play in the first half when junior small forward Brandon Housley (Covington, Ky./Holmes) made a lay-up. The Tomcats closed out the half on 15-8 run to extend the lead to 39-30 at halftime when Eric Mallinger scored on a tip-in with 17-seconds to play in the half.
Thiel opened the second half on a 5-2 run to increase the lead to 44-33 when R.J. Brownlee converted an old fashion three-point play with 18:31 to play in the game. Thomas More answered with a 41-17 run to take a 74-61 lead on two made free-throws by Hayes with 4:48 to play in the game. Thiel used a 16-8 run to cut the lead to 82-77 with 51-seconds to play in the game when Anthony Harvey made a lay-up. That would be as close as Thiel would come as Thomas More would extend the lead to as many as nine points as it closed out the game on a 4-3 run for the 86-80 victory.
Four Saints finished in double-figure scoring as Hayes had a game-high 23 points, Housley had 22, senior shooting guard Ross Renken (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) had 15 and sophomore shooting guard Chris Richard (Louisville, Ky./Southern) had 12. Housley led the team on the boards with eight rebounds, while Renken led the team in assists with four and Hayes led the team in steals with four.
