(RICHMOND, Ind.) - The Thomas More College men's basketball team defeated Earlham College, 90-78, tonight (Tuesday, November 15, 2011) in both teams' season-opener at the Athletic & Wellness Center in Richmond, Indiana.

With the win, the Saints are 1-0 and with the loss, the Quakers are 0-1.

Thomas More raced out to a 13-6 lead when sophomore point guard D'Carlo Hayes (Louisville, Ky./Male) made a three-pointer at the 13:20 mark of the first half.  Earlham answered with a 9-0 run to take a 15-13 lead with 11:41 to play in the first half when Colton Bragg made a three-pointer.  The Saints put together an 11-5 run capped by a three-pointer by senior point guard Daniel Whelan (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) to take a 24-20 lead with 9:20 to play in the opening half.  Dustin Rusk made a three-pointer with 7:14 to play in the half to cap an 8-2 Quaker run to give Earlham a 28-26 lead.  Thomas More used a 19-10 run capped by two free-throws by Hayes with 20-seconds to play in the first half to give the Saints a 45-38 lead.  Earlham cut the lead to 45-40 at the half when Josh Green made a layup at the buzzer.

Earlham opened the second half on a 21-9 run to take a 61-54 lead with 12:56 to play when Bragg made a three-pointer.  Thomas More answered with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 61-60 when senior shooting guard Todd Krohman (Florence, Ky./Boone County) made a three-pointer at the 12:07 mark of the second half.  The Quakers came right back and extended the lead to 64-60 with 12:01 to play in the game when Justin Barger knocked down a three-pointer.  Thomas More then used a 30-14 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 90-76 when sophomore point guard Spencer Berlekamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Kings) made two free-throws with 48-seconds to play.  Earlham made a jumper with 31-seconds to play in the game, but it wasn't enough as Thomas More won the game, 90-78.

The Saints had four players reach double-figures as Hayes, Berlekamp and junior strong forward Phil Feinburg (Phoenix, Ariz./Corona Del Sol) each had 14 points and sophomore point guard Kevin Glenn (Louisville, Ky./Male) had 11.  Feinburg led the Saints on the boards with six, while Berlekamp added five and Whelan led the team in assists with five and Hayes led the team in steals with three.

The Saints return to action on Friday (November 18) when they play Kent State University - Tuscarawas at 5:30 p.m. on the first day of the Heidelberg University Alumni Classic in Tiffin, Ohio.