No. 4 Seed Thomas More Defeats No. 3 Seed Bethany in PAC Semifinals

Game Leaders

Thomas More
Pts: Simon Clifford - 14
Reb: Damion King - 6
Ast: Damion King - 4
Bethany
Pts: Calique Jones - 23
Reb: Antonio Rudolph - 8
Ast: Antonio Rudolph - 5

Team Stats

Thomas More
Bethany

Field Goals

(26-60)
(25-60)

Field Goal %

43.3%
41.7%

Rebounds

37
36

Assists

15
9

Turnovers

8
10

Pts off Turnovers

5
10

2nd Chance Pts

3
8

Pts in the Paint

22
30

Fastbreak Pts

0
2

Bench Pts

22
16
full stats
More news about: Thomas More
Feb 25, 2016

(BETHANY, W.Va.) – The fourth-seeded Thomas More College men's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament tonight (Thursday, February 25, 2016) as it defeated third-seeded Bethany College, 68-62, in a semifinal round game at Hummel Field House in Bethany, West Virginia.

With the win, the Saints improve to 17-10 and will play top-seeded Saint Vincent College on Saturday (February 27) in the championship game.  The game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. at Saint Vincent's Carey Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.  With the loss, the Bison fall to 17-10.

Bethany jumped out to an early 10-4 lead when Calique Jones made a lay-up with 15:35 to play in the first half.  Thomas More answered with a 24-15 run to take a 28-25 lead with 5:08 to play in the opening half when junior guard Sawyer Pauly (Crescent Springs, Ky./Covington Catholic) made a three-pointer.  The Bison closed out the half on an 11-6 run to take a 36-34 lead at halftime when Antonio Rudolph made a jumper with 59-seconds to play in the first half.

The Bison opened the second half on a 6-2 run to extend the lead to 42-36 with 18:27 to play in the game when Jones made a jumper.  Undaunted, Thomas More put together a 26-8 run capped by a jumper by freshman guard Damion King (Winchester, Ky./George Rogers Clark) to build a 62-50 lead with 3:41 to play in the game.  Bethany closed the game on a 12-6 run, but it wasn't enough as Thomas More won the game 68-62.

Junior forward/center Simon Clifford (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) led four Saints in double-figure scoring with 14 points.  Joining him in double-figures was sophomore forward Austin Young (Campbellsburg, Ky./Henry County) with 13 points, King with 11 points and freshman guard Brandon Horne (Louisville, Ky./Male) with 10 points.  King led the team on the boards with six rebounds and led the team in assists with four.

The championship game appearance is the Saints' sixth in the last eight years.  Thomas More won the PAC Championship Tournament at the end of the 2008-2009 season.