(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - Sophomore shooting guard Chris Richard (Louisville, Ky./Southern) scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Thomas More College men's basketball team to a, 75-56, win over across-the-river rival, the College of Mount St. Joseph tonight (Wednesday, November 21, 2012) in the 2012 Bridge Shootout at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
With the win, the Saints improve to 3-0 and win their third straight Bridge Shootout. With the loss, the Lions fall to 1-2.
Thomas More raced out to a 7-0 lead when Richard converted an old fashion three-point play with 18:23 to play in the first half. Mount St. Joseph answered with a 20-11 run to take a 20-18 lead with 10:48 to play in the opening half when Jacob Daniels made one-of-two free-throws. The Saints responded with a 6-0 run capped by a jumper by junior small forward Brandon Housley (Covington, Ky./Holmes) at the 9:25 mark of the first half to take a 24-20 lead. The Lions retook the lead at 25-24 when Ken Kunkel capped a 5-0 run with two free-throws with 7:32 to play in the half. The Saints closed out the half on a 17-11 run to take a 41-36 lead at intermission when Housley made one-of-two free-throws with one-second to play in the first half.
The Saints opened the second half on a 9-3 run to take extend the lead to 50-39 when junior point guard Spencer Berlekamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Kings) made a three-pointer with 16:08 to play in the game. Mount St. Joseph answered with an 8-3 run to take cut the lead to 53-47 with 12:42 to play in the game when Jack Pflum made a three-pointer. Undaunted, Thomas More responded with a 22-8 run to take the biggest lead of the game at 75-55 when junior point guard Eliot Pipes (Nashville, Tenn./Hillsboro) made a jumper with 51-seconds to play in the game. The Lions made a free-throw with 34-seconds to play in the game for the Saints' final margin of victory of 75-56.
Junior point guard D'Carlo Hayes (Louisville, Ky./Male) joined Richard in double-figure scoring with 11 points. Pipes, Berlekamp and sophomore shooting guard Drew Mumford (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy) all just missed double-figure scoring as they all finished with nine points each. Housley led the team in rebounding with six, while Richard had five. Hayes led the team in assists with three and Richard led the team in steals with four.
Thomas More returns to action on Sunday (November 25) when it hosts traditional rival Wilmington College at 5 p.m. at the Connor Convocation Center.