Men's Basketball Secures Conference Opener Against Lake Erie

(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.)-Thomas More University's men's basketball team defeated Lake Erie on Thursday evening (December 5), 79-75, in their conference opener. The Saints overall improves to 5-1 and 1-0 in conference.

• Redshirt first year Kai Simpson (Lexington, Ky./Fredrick Douglass) made a layup on a fast break to put the Saints on the board and start their 15-0 run with 19:33 on the board (2-3).
• With 16:13 to play in the first half, senior Casey George (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) laid a layup for the Saints final basket of their 15-0 run over the Strom (15-3).
• Redshirt first year Zion Crowe (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) drained a 3-point basket with 11:57 to play to put the Saints up 27-14.
• Junior Ryan Paris (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) hit a 3-point shot to extend the Saints lead to 16 with 6:26 left in the first half (36-20).
• Senior Wyatt Vieth (Hebron, Ky./St. Henry) knocked in a basket from behind the arch for the Saints final basket of the half with 1:23 to play (53-32).
• The Saints led 53-33 going into the locker room at the half.
• Casey George led the team with 16 points and had two assists.
• Kai Simpson had a team high of 16 points and three assists and tallied five rebounds.
• Junior Mitchell Rylee (Ft. Mitchell, Ky./Covington Catholic) brought down eight rebounds to lead the Saints in the first half.
• The Saints were 67.9% (19-28) from the field, 53.8% (7-13) from the 3-point line, and 88.9% (8-9) from the free throw line in the first half.

• Casey George kicked off the scoring in the second half by draining a 3-point shot with 18:10 to play to make it a 56-33 game.
• Zion Crowe made a 3-point basket to extend the Saints lead to 19 with 12:12 to play (60-41).
• With 9:09 remaining, Mitchell Rylee knocked in two free throws to put the Saints up 66-50.
• Zioe Crowe laid in a layup with 2:33 on the clock to push the Saints up on the Storm (74-70).
• Mitchell Rylee hit one free throw to secure the Saints 79-75 win over the Storm with seven seconds left on the clock.
• Casey George led the Saints with nine points in the second half.
• Wyatt Vieth recorded six rebounds for a team high.
• The Saints were 33.3% (6-18) from the field, 20% (2-10) from the 3-point line, and 80% (12-15) from the free throw line in the second half.

• Casey George tied his career high of 25 points to lead the Saints and had two assists.
• Kai Simpson tallied four assists to lead the team and had 16 points and eight rebounds.
• Mitchell Rylee had a team high of 10 rebounds and had five points and three assists.
• Wyatt Vieth recorded nine rebounds with three points.
• The Saints were 54.3% (25-46) from the field, 39.1% (9-23) from the 3-point line, and 83.3% (20-24) from the free throw line.

The Saints return to action on Saturday (December 7) at 3:00 pm at Cedarville.