Box Score (CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) — A Reid Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) three-pointer with three seconds remaining lifted the Thomas More University men's basketball team to a 64-61 upset win over the 14th-ranked University of Pikeville on Thursday night (January 30, 2020) at the Connor Convocation Center.
- The Bears took a quick 6-2 lead until a Jolly basket at the 15:17 mark cut it to 6-4.
- Pikeville continued to build on their early lead, pulling ahead 11-4 with 12:36 left in the half.
- The Saints trailed 21-12 with 5:19 to play before cutting the deficit to two points with an 11-4 rally, capped off by back-to-back Jolly scores, with 2:11 left.
- Pikeville closed the half with five points in the final minute, including a three at the buzzer, to go into halftime with a 30-23 lead.
- Thomas More shot 10-of-27 (37.0 percent) from the field in the first half while Pikeville was 12-of-22 (54.5 percent).
- Jolly led the Saints with six points in the half.
- Thomas More forced seven turnovers and committed only two in the first half.
- Thomas More closed to within three points, 34-31, on a Garren Bertsch (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) three with 16:50 left.
- Pikeville responded with a 7-0 run to push the lead up to double digits at 41-31 with 13:57 remaining.
- The Bears maintained their separation from the Saints and led by nine, 54-45, with 5:49 to go before Thomas More started to chip away.
- After a pair of Ryan Batte (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) free throws, Bertsch drained a three to cut the deficit to four at 54-50 with 4:52 left.
- Pikeville scored the next four points and led 58-50 with 2:27 left, but Bertsch responded with a layup and a foul and converted the free throw for a three-point play with 2:00 to go.
- The Bears made two free throws, and Luke Rudy (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) answered with a three-pointer with 1:34 left to cut Pikeville's lead to 60-56.
- After another Bears free throw, Rudy hit another three-pointer with 55 seconds left to make the score 61-59.
- The Saints declined to foul and their defense made a stand to regain possession.
- Coming out of a timeout with five seconds left, Jolly knocked down a three-pointer on the baseline with three seconds remaining to give the Saints their first lead of the game at 62-61.
- Pikeville turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass, and Noah Pack (Georgetown, Ohio/Georgeotwn) made two free throws to seal the win for Thomas More.
- The Saints were 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) from the field in the half and 14-of-15 (93.3 percent) from the free throw line.
- Batte scored 13 points in the second half and made 9-of-10 free throws.
- Bertsch scored 11 second half points while making 2-of-3 threes and 3-of-3 free throws.
- Jolly had nine points and six rebounds in the second half.
- Thomas More improved to 16-6 overall and 4-5 in the Mid-South Conference, while Pikeville dropped to 16-6 overall and 3-5 in conference play.
- Overall, the Saints were 21-of-51 (41.2 percent) from the field and 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc, and they made 16-of-18 (88.9 percent) free throws.
- The Saints started 2-of-12 from three-point range but made their final four attempts, including three in the final 1:34.
- Batte led all scorers with 18 points and finished the game 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
- Jolly finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
- Bertsch scored 16 points with four assists.
- Rudy had six points, all in the final 1:34 to help the Saints close the gap.
- The Saints will travel for a Mid-South game at No. 25 Shawnee State University on Saturday afternoon (February 1) at 4 p.m.
