Box Score (PORTSMOUTH, Ohio) — The Thomas More University men's basketball team beat a ranked opponent for the second time in three days on Saturday afternoon (February 1, 2020) by knocking off No. 25 Shawnee State on the road 69-60.
- Sophomore center Ryan Batte (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) helped the Saints build a big early lead with 14 points in the first nine minutes of the game as Thomas More raced out to a 23-8 advantage.
- Batte made two three-pointers in that stretch, with juniors Garren Bertsch (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) and Luke Rudy (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) and first-year forward Reid Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) also connecting from long range, as Thomas More made five of their first six three-point attempts.
- The Saints cooled off for the rest of the half, and were out-scored 21-10 before taking a 33-29 lead into the break.
- Thomas More went 12-of-25 (48.0 percent) from the field in the first half and missed their last seven three-point attempts to finish the period 5-of-13 (38.5 percent).
- Bertsch broke the Saints' dry spell from beyond the arc early in the second half with a three with 17:56 left in the game, then added another just seconds later to extend Thomas More's lead back into double digits at 41-31 with 17:12 left.
- Senior Kedan Davis (Newport, Ky./Newport) scored with 13:50 to go to make it a 14-point game at 47-33.
- Shawnee State cut the deficit to seven points with a three-pointer with 5:26 remaining, but Batte answered by converting a three-point play with 5:04 left to give Thomas More a 59-49 advantage.
- After a Jolly basket with 4:10 left made it a 61-51 game, the Saints went cold and the Bears went on a 6-0 run to cut it to 61-57 with 2:06 to play.
- With under a minute to play and the Saints lead shrinking, Batte came up with a crucial offensive rebound to keep possession, and Rudy made a pair of free throws to make it 63-57 with 46 seconds left.
- Tyrice Walker (Hamilton, Ohio/Summit Country Day) pulled in a defensive rebound on the ensuing Bears possession and made two free throws to give the Saints a 65-57 lead with 36 seconds left.
- Thomas More shot 12-of-31 (38.7 percent) from the field in the second half.
- Thomas More improved to 17-6 overall and 5-5 in the Mid-South Conference and moved into a tie for third place in the league standings.
- Shawnee State, which dropped to 16-8 overall and 5-5 in the conference, never led in the game.
- Although the Saints shot just 13-of-24 (54.2 percent) from the foul line for the game, they made 8-of-10 attempts in the final minute of play to seal the win.
- The Saints shot 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the field and 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from three-point range and held the Bears to just 36.7 percent (18-of-49) from the field and 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from beyond the arc.
- Thomas More forced 16 turnovers and committed only eight.
- Jolly played all 40 minutes and led the Saints with 18 points and added six steals, three rebounds, and three assists.
- Batte scored 17 points and was a perfect 2-of-2 from three-point range and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
- Rudy finished with 12 points.
- Bertsch scored 10 points and tied for the team lead with five rebounds.
- The Saints will attempt to continue their winning streak against ranked opponents with a road trip to undefeated No. 1 Georgetown on Thursday night at 8 p.m.
