Box Score (KANSAS CITY, Mo.)-No. 2 seed Thomas More University men's basketball team defeated No. 1 seed Oklahoma Wesleyan on Saturday evening (March 19) 59-56 in the Quarterfinals of the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship to advance to the Fab Four. The Saints overall record improves to 31-4.
- Sophomore Reid Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) kicked off the scoring for the Saints, with a layup to tie the game up at 2-2 with 19:06 to play in the first half and to start the team's 13-0 run over the Eagles.
- Redshirt junior Ryan Batte (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) would hit a jump shot with 12:45 on the clock in the first half to extend the Saints lead to 15-6.
- Graduate Student Garren Bertsch (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) drained a 3-point shot with 7:00 to play in the half to make it a 21-17 game.
- First year Casey George (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) hit a 3-point jump shot for the Saints final basket of the half with 1:37 on the clock (27-27).
- The Saints went into the locker room down 27-29 at the half.
- Batte led the Saints with eight points and seven rebounds and had two assists in the first half.
- Jolly followed with seven points, one rebound, and two assists.
- First year transfer Jacob Jones (Jeffersonville, Ind./Jeffersonville) led the Saints with three assists.
- The Saints were 38.5% (10-26) from the field, 35.7% (5-14) from the 3-point line, and 100% (2-2) from the free throw line in the first half.
- Bertsch started the scoring off for the Saints in the second half, draining a 3-point basket to put the team withing one (30-31) with 19:01 to play.
- Sophomore Noah Pack (Georgetown, Ohio/Georgetown) would hit a big 3-point shot to help the Saints regain the lead (44-42) with 11:56 to play.
- With 4:28 to play, Jones would drive to the rim for a layup to extend the Saints lead to 52-49.
- Batte would make two free throws for the Saints final basket of the game and to secure the game (59-56) with five seconds left to advance the team to the Fab Four.
- Batte would lead the Saints with 15 points and had four rebounds and one assist in the second half.
- Pack led the team with five rebounds and had seven points.
- George recorded three assists to lead the Saints in the second half.
- The Saints were 60% (12-20) from the field, 33.3% (2-6) from the 3-point line, and 75% (6-8) from the free throw line in the second half.
- Batte led the Saints with 23 points and 11 rebounds (final site high in rebounds) and had three assists.
- Bertsch followed with 11 points, two rebounds, and one assist.
- Pack recorded 10 points and seven rebounds.
- Jones tallied four assists to lead the team and had four rebounds and two points.
- George also had four assists to lead the Saints and had six points and one rebound.
- The Saints were 47.8% (22-46) from the field, 35% (7-20) from the 3-point line, and 80% (8-10) from the free throw line.
The Saints return to the court on Monday (March 21) against TBD at 8:00 pm ET in Kansas City, Mo.
