(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) – The Thomas More University men's basketball team dropped their third straight contest Thursday night, a 72-61 defeat at the hands of the No. 15 Georgetown College Tigers. This is the Saints first loss at home this season. Thomas More is now 14-5 overall and 9-5 in the Mid-South Conference.
- Thomas More held a 14-9 lead early in the first half, but the Tigers answered right back with a 5-0 flurry to tie the game at 14-14 in what would become a back-and-forth affair throughout.
- The two teams continued trading buckets, with the score tied 27-27 with 1:49 to play in the opening 20 minutes.
- With the Tigers up 30-29, a Derek Eddings (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle) three put the Saints up 32-30 heading into the locker room.
- Sophomore Wyatt Vieth (Hebron, Ky./St. Henry) led the team with 11 points in the first half on 4-8 shooting while also grabbing four rebounds.
- A Vieth three-pointer gave the Saints a 35-30 lead to begin the half, but a momentum shifting Tigers run ensued.
- Georgetown used a 14-2 run to take their largest lead of the game to this point at 44-37 with 15:06 to play.
- However, the Saints didn't blink and ripped off a 10-2 rally of their own to grab a one point 47-46 advantage with 10:25 remaining.
- The run was fueled by five Reid Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) points.
- That would be the last lead the Saints would hold for the rest of the game.
- A 7-2 flurry gave the Tigers a 53-49 lead, and they stayed consistent throughout the final minutes, never giving up the lead and continuing to increase it.
- The Saints pushed the advantage down to three at 58-55 with 6:12 remaining, but that was as close as they would get in the 72-61 defeat.
- Vieth scored 20 points to lead the Saints, his fourth 20 plus point game this season. He made six threes in a game for the third time this season.
- Jolly had 13 points while Noah Pack (Georgetown, Ohio/Georgetown) added 11.
- Vieth and Kyle Ross (St. John, Ind./Wisconsin-Milwaukee) tied for the team-lead with seven rebounds.
- Casey George (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) and Pack tied for the team-lead with four assists.
- Thomas More grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, their sixth game with 10 or more this season.
The Saints go back on the road this Saturday afternoon to the University of the Cumberlands for a 3:00 p.m. tip off with the Patriots. They blew out Cumberlands 86-61 at home earlier this season on Nov. 17, 2022, in their first conference game.
