(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - Six Saints reached double-figures, but it wasn't enough as the Thomas More College men's basketball team fell, 91-87, to Saint Vincent College today (Saturday, February 19, 2011) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
With the loss, the Saints finish the regular season at 12-13 overall and 8-6 in the PAC and will be the No. 5 seed in next week's PAC Championship Tournament. With the win, the Bearcats finish the regular season at 18-7 overall and 10-4 in the PAC and will be the No. 2 seed in the PAC Tournament.
Saint Vincent took an early 10-3 lead with 15:28 to play in the first half when Tavoun Pettiford made a three-pointer. Thomas More answered with a 16-2 run capped by a three-pointer by sophomore point guard Ryan Hamm (Maysville, Ky./Mason County) made a three-pointer with 12:21 to play in the first half to take a 19-12 lead. The Bearcats responded with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 21-19 with 8:58 to play in the opening half when Grant Latus made a lay-up. The Saints closed out the half on a 34-19 run to take a 55-38 lead at halftime when junior point guard Daniel Whelan (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) made a lay-up with two-seconds to play in the half.
Thomas More opened the second half on an 8-2 run to extend the lead to 63-40 with 17:28 to play in the game when senior shooting guard Aaron Miller (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) made a jumper. Saint Vincent responded with a 39-16 run to tie the game at 79-79 when Latus made a lay-up with 5:49 to play in the game. The Saints came right back with an 8-4 run to take an 87-83 lead with 2:48 to play in the game when freshman point guard Spencer Berlekamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Kings) made two free-throws. Saint Vincent then closed out the game on an 8-0 capped by two free-throws by Dennis Bassich for the 91-87 victory.
Reaching double-figure scoring for the Saints were Berlekamp with 16 points, Miller with 15, senior shooting guard Brian Muse (Bethel, Ohio/Bethel) with 14, Hamm and Whelan with 11 points each and junior center Colt Stafford (Groveport, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) with 10. Muse led the team on the boards with eight rebounds, while Whelan led the team in assists with seven and freshman point guard D'Carlo Hayes (Louisville, Ky./Male) led the team in steals with four.
The Saints open PAC Championship Tournament play on Tuesday (February 22) when they travel to Washington, Pennsylvania to play fourth-seeded Washington & Jefferson College at 7 p.m. inside the Henry Memorial Center.