Box Score By Tyler Smith '18
(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - Thomas More College took on Presidents Athletic Conference (PAC) opponent Chatham University inside the Athletic & Fitness Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Saints came out victorious with an 83-72 win. The Saints move to 8-3 on the season and 4-0 in the PAC.
Thomas More shot 54.4% from the field shooting 31-for-57 from the field and adding 14 points from the free-throw line. The biggest difference in the game was Saints' big men out-rebound the Cougars 41-26.
The Saints had 10 player put a tally on the bored tonight, and were led by junior forward Austin Young (Campbellsville, Ky/ Henry County), who finished with the team-high 17 points. Along with Young, junior center Simon Clifford (Louisville, Ky/ DuPont Manual) finished with 16 points, while senior guard Sawyer Pauly (Crescent Springs, Ky/Covington Catholic) and sophomore center Junior Stockwell (Florence, Ky/ Boone County) both finished with 10 points.
Player of the game, senior guard Sawyer Pauly, talked to us after the game about his night and about the team's ability to win the rebounds down low. Pauly told us, "Chatham prides themselves on being scrappy and playing very fast so we tried to limit their transition offense by sprinting back on defense every time they had the ball. About the rebounds, our team works every day in practice on rebounding and it is a second nature to us at this point. We pride ourselves on being aggressive down low and trying to out rebound every opponent we face and tonight we were able to achieve that."
Catching up with head coach Drew Cooper after the game and getting his thoughts he told us, "Chatham plays so extremely hard. They scratch and claw and just have remarkable passion. Anytime you can win on the road in the conference against a team like that it's a great thing."
The Cougars of Chatham University were led by sophomore guard Isaiah Brown, who finished with the game high 20 points. Other leading scores for Chatham were sophomore guard/forward Alex Schoppen, who finished with 18, sophomore guard Josh Randall, who finished with 14 and sophomore guard Nasir Alexander who finished with six.
Thomas More returns to the hardwood on Thursday (January 5) when it travels to New Wilmington, Pennsylvania to play Westminster College. The PAC game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. inside Buzz Ridl Gymnasium.
