Box Score (CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) — The Thomas More University men's basketball went cold from the field in a 55-52 non-conference loss to the University of Northwestern Ohio on Monday night (January 27, 2020) at the Connor Convocation Center.
- The Saints opened the game on an 8-0 run with four points from Ryan Batte (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills), but the Racers bounced back with an 8-0 run of their own to tie the score with 14:17 left in the first half.
- Max Knisley (Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington) responded with a three-pointer, and Batte added a jump shot to put Thomas More back up by five, 13-8, with 12:27 left.
- Northwestern Ohio then went on a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 14-13 with 11:36 left in the half.
- Neither team led by more than two points in the remainder of the half until a Luke Rudy (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) three-pointer with 1:02 to go sent the Saints into halftime up 27-24.
- Batte led the Saints with 10 points in the first half.
- Thomas More was 11-for-26 (42.3 percent) from the field and 3-of-10 (30.0 percent) from three-point range in the opening period.
- Knisley made a three and Batte made two layups on back-to-back possessions to help the Saints extend their lead to eight points, 36-28, with 17:20 left to play.
- Then Thomas More went cold, scoring only one basket, a Noah Pack (Georgetown, Ohio/Georgetown) fast break dunk, in a span of over 10 minutes as the Saints fell victim to a 17-2 Racers run that put Northwestern Ohio on top 45-38 until the 7 minute mark.
- Thomas More chipped away at the lead and tied the game, 52-52, on a Batte put back layup with 1:11 remaining.
- On the ensuing possession, the Racers banked in a three-pointer with 44 seconds left that proved to be the game-winner.
- The Saints shot just 37 percent (10-of-27) from the field and 8.3 percent (1-of-12) from long range in the second half.
- Northwestern Ohio out-scored Thomas More 12-2 off turnovers in the second half as the Racers had seven steals in the period.
- Thomas More fell to 15-6 overall, while Northwestern Ohio moved to 8-15.
- The Saints, who entered the game ranked 11th in NAIA Division I in field goal percentage (50.0 percent) and 10th in three-point percentage (39.4 percent) finished the game 21-of-53 from the field (39.6 percent) and 4-of-22 from three-point range (18.2 percent).
- Thomas More out-rebounded Northwestern Ohio 34-29 and held a 32-20 edge in points in the paint and 10-2 in second chance points.
- Batte led the Saints with 19 points and added seven rebounds and five assists.
- Reid Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) finished with nine points and six rebounds.
- Knisley led the team with eight rebounds, adding six points.
- The Saints will host their fourth home game in eight days when they welcome No. 14 University of Pikeville to the Connor Convocation Center for a Mid-South Conference matchup on Thursday night (January 30) at 8 p.m.
