Men's Basketball Falls to Lake Erie on the Road

(PAINESVILLE, Ohio)-Thomas More University's men's basketball team fell to Lake Erie on Thursday evening (January 16), 87-75. The Saints overall record falls to 10-6 and 5-4 in conference.

• Redshirt first year Zion Crowe (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) drained a 3-point basket to kick off the scoring for the Saints with 18:31 on the clock (3-2).
• With 14:44 to play in the half, redshirt first year Kai Simpson (Lexington, Ky./Frederick Douglass) drove to the rim for a layup to put the Saints within one (9-10).
• Redshirt first year Jack McCune (Paducah, Ky./McCracken County) made a layup with 8:07 to play in the half to make it a 21-28 game.
• Junior Mitchell Rylee (Ft. Mitchell, Ky./Covington Catholic) drove to the basket for a layup with 2:03 on the clock (31-41).
• Kai Simpson made the final basket of the half to put the Saints down 43-36 going into the locker room at the half..
• Jack McCune led the Saints with nine points and had three rebounds.
• Kai Simpson also led with nine points and had two rebounds and one assist.
• Senior Casey George (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) tallied seven rebounds and three assists to lead the team and had four points.
• Zion Crowe had eight points.
• The Saints were 57.1% (12-21) from the field, 50% (3-6) from the 3-point line, and 81.8% (9-11) from the free throw line in the first half.

• Jack McCune hit a jump shot to start off the second half with 19:17 on the clock (38-43).
• Casey George made a layup to make it a 45-51 game with 16:41 remaining in the game. 
• With 11:07 to play, Casey George knocked in a jumper (48-62).
• Junior Ryan Paris (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) drained a 3-point shot with 3:59 to play to make it a 61-79 game.
• Kai Simpson made two free throws for the final points of the game (75-87).
• Casey George led with 13 points and four assists in the second half and had two rebounds.
• First year Tyler Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) recorded five rebounds to lead the team in the second half.
• The Saints were 50% (14-28) from the field, 36.4% (4-11) from the 3-point line, and 63.6% (7-11) from the free throw line in the second half.

• Casey George led the Saints across the board with 17 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
• Kai Simpson had 15 points, two rebounds, and one assist.
• Jack McCune had 11 points and three rebounds.
• The Saints were 53.1% (26-49) from the field, 41.2% (7-17) from the 3-point line, and 72.7% (16-22) from the free throw line. 

The Saints return to action on Saturday (January 18) in Canton, Ohio at Malone with a 1:00 pm ET tip.