No. 5 Seed Men's Basketball Cruise by No. 12 Seed Eastern Oregon in the First Round of the 2023 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship

(BUTTE, Mont.)-No. 5 seed Thomas More University men's basketball team defeated No. 12 seed Eastern Oregon on Tuesday evening (March 7) 66-44 to advance to the Second Round of the 2023 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship. The Saints overall record improves to 23-8.

• Senior Reid Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) started things off for the Saints with a layup to make it a 2-0 game with 19:16 to play in the first half. 
• With 13:10 to play in the first half, sophomore Wyatt Vieth (Burlington, Ky./St. Henry) drained a 3-point basket to kick off the Saints 14-0 run over the Mountaineers.
• Sophomore Jacob Jones (Jeffersonville, Ind./Jeffersonville) would hit the Saints final four basket of the game to give the Saints a 34-12 lead going into the locker room at the half. 
• Jacob Jones led the Saints with 11 points and one assist in the first half.
• Senior Noah Pack (Georgetown, Ohio/Georgetown) followed with10 points and led the team with six rebounds and one assist. 
• Wyatt Vieth had five points and five rebounds. 
• The Saints were 41.9% (13-31) from the field, 50% (4-8) from the 3-point line, and 100% (4-4) from the free throw line in the first half.

• Reid Jolly made a jump shot with 19:04 on the clock to kick off the scoring for the Saints in the second half to extend the lead to 36-14.
• Jacob Jones drove to the rim for a layup to make it a 38-16 game with 17:09 to play in the game.
• With 8:24 to play in the game, sophomore Casey George (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) made a layup to put the Saints by 15 (46-31).
• Wyatt Vieth knocked in a 3-point basket for the final basket of the game with 1:34 to play to secure the Saints 66-44 victory over Eastern Oregon.
• Reid Jolly led the Saints in the second half with 18 points and had one rebound.
• Jacob Jones followed with seven points and two rebounds. 
• Casey George led the team defensively with five rebounds and had two points. 
• Noah Pack recorded three assists to lead the team in the second half and had three rebounds and two points.
• The Saints were 50% (11-22) from the field, 16.7% (1-6) from the 3-point line, and 75% (9-12) from the free throw line in the second half. 

• Reid Jolly led the Saints with 22 points and had six rebounds. 
• Jacob Jones followed close behind with 18 points, two rebounds, and one assist. 
• Noah Pack recorded nine rebounds and four assists to lead the team and had 12 points.
• Wyatt Vieth also tallied nine rebounds to lead the team and had eight points.
• Casey George had eight rebounds. 
• The Saints were 45.3% (24-53) from the field, 35.7% (5-14) from the 3-point line, and 81.3% (13-16) from the free throw line.

The Saints return to action tomorrow night (March 8) at 9:00 pm ET against the winner of Westmont vs Montana Tech in Butte, Montana.