Box Score (CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) — The Thomas More University men's basketball team fell 74-61 to No. 1 Georgetown College, the defending NAIA national champions, in a hard-fought game on Thursday night (January 9, 2020) at the Connor Convocation Center.
- Max Knisley (Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington) started hot for the Saints, knocking down a pair of three-pointers in the game's first four minutes as the Tigers took an early 9-8 lead.
- Georgetown then went on a 10-2 run, expanding their lead to 19-10 until Garren Bertsch (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) drained a three with 10:57 left in the first half.
- Noah Pack (Georgetown, Ohio/Georgetown) hit a three-pointer with 9:32 to play in the half to cut the Georgetown lead to 21-16.
- The Tigers responded by scoring six unanswered points on a back-to-back threes to take a 27-16 lead.
- Georgetown went into halftime leading 38-26.
- Knisley and Pack both scored six points on two three-pointers each to lead the Saints in the first half.
- Thomas More shot 9-of-27 (33.3 percent) from the field and 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from three-point range while Georgetown made 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) shots from the field and 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) threes in the opening period.
- Ryan Batte (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) made the first two baskets of the second half to cut the Tigers' lead to single digits, 38-30, with 18:24 remaining.
- Georgetown bounced back with a 9-0 run before a Bertsch basket in the paint made it a 47-32 game with 14:31 left.
- The Saints continued battling and cut the lead to as low as nine points when a Luke Rudy (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) three made the score 70-61 in favor of the Tigers with 26 seconds left.
- Thomas More fared better from the field in the second half, shooting 15-of-34 (44.1 percent) from the field and 4-of-11 (36.4 percent) from three-point range.
- Thomas More fell to 12-4 overall and 0-4 in Mid-South Conference play, while Georgetown moved to 14-0 and 4-0 in the Mid-South.
- The Saints shot 24-of-61 (39.3 percent) from the field and 10-of-30 (33.3 percent) from three-point range.
- The Tigers entered play averaging over 100 points per game, but the Saints held them to 74 points on 28-of-58 (48.3 percent) shooting.
- Batte led Thomas More with 16 points and seven rebounds.
- Pack had 14 points and four rebounds off the bench, shooting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
- Reid Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
- Rudy had nine points and a team-high four assists.
- Knisley tallied six points and five rebounds.
- Thomas More will look for their first Mid-South win against Cumberland University (Tenn.) next Thursday (January 16) at 8 p.m. at the Connor Convocation Center.
