(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - Junior point guard Daniel Whelan (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Thomas More College men's basketball team to a 72-63 come-from-behind win over across-the-river rival, the College of Mount St. Joseph tonight (Wednesday, November 24, 2010) in the Bridge Shootout at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.

With the win, the Saints improve to 2-2 overall and with the loss, the Lions fall to 1-3 overall.

Thomas More jumped out to a 5-2 lead when Whelan made a lay-up at the 17:35 mark of the first half.  The Lions then put together a 28-8 run to take a 30-13 lead when Alex Cole made a three-pointer with 7:48 to play in the first half.  The Saints closed out the first half on a 20-7 run to cut the lead to 37-33 at halftime when Whelan made a jumper with three-seconds to play in the half.

Mount St. Joseph opened the second half with three straight points to extend the lead to 40-33 with 19:34 to play in the game when Cole converted an old fashion three-point play.  Thomas More came right back with a 23-4 run capped by a three-pointer by senior shooting guard Aaron Miller (Lexington ,Ky./Henry Clay) to take a 53-44 lead with 13:16 to play in the game.  MSJ answered with an 11-2 run to tie the game at 55-55 with 7:20 to play in the game when John Valerius made a lay-up.  That would be as close as the Lions would come as Thomas More would lead by as many as 13 points and went onto the 72-63 win.

Joining Whelan in double-figures was senior shooting guard Brian Muse (Bethel, Ohio/Bethel) with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Miller with 11.  Whelan led the team in assists with five, while Muse led the team with three and Miller led the team in steals with five.

Thomas More is idle until next Wednesday (December 1) when it hosts Grove City College in both teams' Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opener.  The game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.