(NORTH CANTON, OH)-Thomas More University's men's basketball team defeated Tiffin on Friday evening (March 8), 63-62, in the G-MAC Tournament Semifinals. This is the Saints first year in the G-MAC and will advance to the finals tomorrow against Walsh. The Saints overall record improves to 19-11.
- Junior Casey George (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) made a layup to kick things off for the Saints and put them on the board 2-0 with 19:32 on the clock.
- With 16:12 to play in the half, sophomore transfer Mitchell Rylee (Ft. Mitchell, Ky./Covington Catholic) dunked the ball to put the Saints up 6-4.
- Junior Jacob Jones (Jeffersonville, Ind./Jeffersonville) laid the ball in with 11:36 to go to make it a 16-12 game.
- Graduate Student Reid Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) drove to the rim for a layup to put the Saints within one with 5:51 on the clock (19-20.
- Mitchell Rylee knocked in one free throw for the Saints final basket of the half with 1:06 to play to make it a 24-28Â game.Â
- The Saints trailed 30-24 at the half.
- Reid Jolly led with 10 points in the first half and had one rebound.
- Mitchell Rylee recorded eight rebounds and two assist to lead the team and had three points.
- The Saints were 33.3% (9-27) from the field, 0% (0-3) from the 3-point line, and 75% (6-8) from the free throw line in the first half.
- Casey George started things off in the second half with a layup to put the Saints withing four with 19:20 to play (26-30).
- Junior Wyatt Vieth (Hebron, Ky./St. Henry) drained a 3-point basket with 14:54 on the clock to make it a 37-31 game.
- With 13:06 to play, Reid Jolly made a jump shot to cut the lead to 35-39.
- Wyatt Vieth would hit a 3-point shot with 7:35 to play to make it a 44-50 game.
- Jacob Jones would lay the ball in with 5:38 on the clock to tie the game at 52-52.
- Reid Jolly drove the ball in with 4.9 seconds left to win the game for the Saints and send them to the Championship.
- The Saints defeated the Dragons 63-62.
- Reid Jolly led the team in the second half with 13 points and four rebounds.
- Jacob Jones would also lead with four rebounds and two assists and had eight points.
- Wyatt Vieth had eight points, three rebounds, ane one assist.
- The Saints were 60% (15-25) from the field, 37.5% (3-8) from the 3-point line, and 66.67% (6-9) from the free throw line in the second half.
- Reid Jolly led the team with 23 points and had five rebounds.
- Jacob Jones followed with 13 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
- Mitchell Rylee tallied 10 rebounds and three assists to lead the team and had eight points.
- Wyatt Vieth had eight points, four rebounds, and one assist.
- Casey George recorded eight points, one rebound, and one assist.
- The Saints were 46.2% (24-52) from the field, 27.3% (3-11) from the 3-point line, and 70.6% (12-17) from the free throw line.
- This is the Saints first year in the G-MAC.
- This is Head Coach Justin Ray's fourth conference championship game out of his six years of being at Thomas More.
The Saints return tomorrow in Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament Finals at 3:00 pm ET in North Canton, OH at Alumni Gym.
