(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - Junior center Colt Stafford (Groveport, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) made a lay-up with 1:15 to play in the game to propel the No. 5 seeded Thomas More College men's basketball team to a 58-57, win over No. 4 seeded Washington & Jefferson College tonight (Tuesday, February 22, 2011) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament quarterfinal game at the Henry Memorial Center in Washington, Pennsylvania.
With the win, the Saints improve to 13-13 and advance to the PAC Tournament semifinals where they will play at either No. 1 seed Thiel College or No. 3 seed Bethany College at 7 p.m. on Thursday (February 24). With the loss, the Presidents end the season at 11-15.
W&J jumped out to an 18-13 lead with 9:52 to play in the first half when Brian Felker made a three-pointer. Thomas More closed out the half on a 19-5 run capped by a three-pointer by senior shooting guard Aaron Miller (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) with three-seconds to play in the half to give the Saints a 32-23 lead at halftime.
The Presidents opened the second half on a 17-7 run to take a 40-39 lead with 13:12 to play in the game when Adam Braithwaite made a jumper. Thomas More answered with a 5-0 run to take a 44-40 lead when junior point guard Daniel Whelan (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) made a three-pointer with 11:50 to play in the game. W&J responded with a 6-0 run to retake the lead at 46-44 when Braithwaite made on-of-two free-throws at the 8:44 mark of the second half. The Saints put together a 9-0 run to take a 53-46 lead with 6:48 to play in the game when freshman point guard Spencer Berlekamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Kings) made a jumper. W&J answered with a 10-1 run to take a 56-54 lead with 2:45 to play in the game when Felker made two free-throws. Thomas More closed out the game on a 4-1 run capped by Stafford's lay-up with 1:15 to play for the final score of 58-57.
Reaching double-figure scoring for the Saints were Miller with 18 points, Whelan with 12 and Stafford with 10. Stafford led the Saints on the boards with a game-high-tying seven rebounds, while Berlekamp led the team in assists with four and Whelan led the team in steals with two.