(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - Senior shooting guard Aaron Miller (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) recorded his second double-double of the season to lead the Thomas More College men's basketball team to a 67-54 win over Capital University tonight (Thursday, December 16, 2010) in a nonconference game at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
With the win, the Saints extend their winning streak to four games and improve to 5-2 on the season. With the loss, the Crusaders fall to 6-3 on the season.
Capital raced out to an 11-4 lead with 12:56 to play in the first half when Spencer Niekamp made a lay-up. Thomas More answered with a 22-10 run to take a 26-21 lead when senior shooting guard Brian Muse (Bethel, Ohio/Bethel) made two free-throws. The Crusaders closed out the half on a 6-1 run to tie the game at 27-27 when Jared Cashen made a jumper with 26-seconds to play before the half.
The Saints opened the second half on a 7-0 run capped by a lay-up by freshman shooting guard Willis Fleming (Cincinnati, Ohio/Fairfield) to take a 34-27 lead with 18:37 to play in the game. Capital responded with an 11-7 run to cut the lead to 41-37 when DJ Frazier made a jumper with 12:17 to play in the game. Undaunted, the Saints came right back with an 18-3 run to extend the lead to 59-14 with 6:14 to play in the game when Muse made a dunk. The Crusaders used a 12-3 run to cut the lead to 62-53 with 1:25 to play in the game when Mitch Westerheide made a jumper, but it wasn't enough as Thomas More went on to the 67-54 win.
Miller finished the game with a game-high 21 points and 14 rebounds for his double-double. Muse was the only other Saint in double-figures as he had 14 points. Freshman point guard D'Carlo Hayes (Louisville, Ky./Male) led the team in assists with four, while Muse had a team-high two blocks and Miller led the team in steals with six.
The Saints will close out their pre-Christmas schedule on Monday (December 20) when they travel to Conway, South Carolina to play NCAA Division I member Coastal Carolina. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. inside Kimbel Arena.