(CINCINNATI, Ohio) - The Thomas More College men's basketball team defeated across-the-river rival, the College of Mount St. Joseph, 52-44, tonight (Wednesday, November 23, 2011) in the Bridge Shootout at the Harrington Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

With the win, the Saints improve to 4-0 and with the loss, the Lions fall to 3-1.

Thomas More jumped out to a 15-7 lead with 12:30 to play in the opening half when senior point guard Daniel Whelan (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) made a three-pointer.  MSJ answered with a three-pointer by David Mann to cut the lead to 15-10 with 10:39 to play in the half.  The Saints responded with a 10-4 run capped by a lay-up by Whelan to extend the lead to 25-14 with 38-seconds to play in the opening half.  Mount St. Joseph cut the lead to 25-16 at halftime when Andy Countryman made a lay-up with three-seconds to play in the opening stanza.

The Lions opened the second half on a 14-8 run to cut the lead to 33-30 with 8:24 to play in the game when Aaron Barber made a lay-up.  Undaunted, the Saints answered with a 17-10 run to extend the lead to 50-40 when Whelan made two free-throws with 58-seconds to play in the game.  MSJ closed out the game on a 4-2 run, but it wasn't enough as Thomas More went onto the 52-44 win.

Whelan led all scorers with 17 points, while junior strong forward Phil Feinberg (Tempe, Ariz./Corona Del Sol) joined him in double-figures with 16 points.  Feinberg and senior center Colt Stafford (Groveport, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) just missed double-figure rebounding as they each pulled down nine rebounds.  Whelan led the team in steals with four.

Thomas More returns to action on Monday (November 28) when it hosts Transylvania University at 7 p.m. inside the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.