Box Score Crestview Hills, Ky. - The men's basketball program at Thomas More University were defeated by the University of the Cumberlands Patriots by a score of 77-73. With the loss the Saints fall to 9-2 on the year and 4-1 in Mid-South Conference play.
- Graduate student Luke Rudy (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) started the game off by making three free throws to give Thomas More a 3-0 lead.
- Graduate student Garren Bertsch (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) would make a driving layup to give the Saints a lead of 10-5 at the 16:52 mark.
- First-year Casey George (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington) gave the Saints a 16-7 lead with 12:36 remaining in the first half.
- Rudy would make a three to put a halt to the Patriots run, giving Thomas More a 20-15 lead with just over 9:30 to go in the half.
- Redshirt junior Ryan Batte (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) made an elbow jumper with just over six minutes to go in the first to help the Saints re-take the lead at 27-25.
- George made two free throws to end the half with Cumberlands leading 39-37.
- Bertsch would get the Saints on the board with a pair of free throws to cut into the Patriots lead at 46-39.
- At the 15:20 mark Rudy would try and give Thomas More some momentum as he made yet another three-pointer to make the score 53-44, Cumberlands.
- First-year Jacob Jones (Jeffersonville, Ind. / Jeffersonville) would be found on a backdoor cut for a layup by Bertsch to make the score 59-51 at the 11:39 mark.
- Sophomore forward Noah Pack (Georgetown, Ohio/Georgetown) would slice the lead down to 66-63 with two free throws with 7:43 to go in regulation.
- Batte made a spinning hook shot and was fouled to convert the and-one to make the score 68-66 in favor of the Patriots.
- Rudy would make his final three of the night to give Thomas More a 69-68 lead with 4:58 to go, unfortunately the Saints were unable to hold onto the lead and would fall 77-73.
- Batte led the team in scoring with 18 points and grabbed a team high six boards.
- Rudy had 16 points and five rebounds on the night.
- Shot 47.3% from the field as the team.
- Jones collected eight points in his Thomas More debut.
The men's basketball team will return to the court Saturday, December 18, when they travel to Pikeville, Kentucky, to take on the University of Pikeville Bears at 2 p.m. ET.
