(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - The Thomas More College men's basketball team moved into a tie for first place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) on Saturday (January 12, 2013) as it defeated Saint Vincent College, 64-59, at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.

With the win, the Saints improve to 13-3 overall and 6-1 in the PAC as they move into a three-way tie for first place in the conference with Saint Vincent and Bethany College.  With the loss, the Bearcats fall to 11-5 overall and 6-1 in the PAC.

Saint Vincent took an early 6-2 lead when Sean Kett made a lay-up with 18:00 to play in the first half.  Thomas More responded with a 5-2 run to cut the lead to 8-7 when senior shooting guard Ross Renken (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) made a three-pointer with 14:08 to play in the half.  The Bearcats answered with a 6-0 run capped by an Isaac Turner three-pointer with 11:52 to play in the half to extend the lead to 14-7.  The Saints tied the score at 15-15 with 9:02 to play in the first half when junior point guard Spencer Berlekamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Kings) made a jumper.  Saint Vincent closed out the half on a 12-7 run to take a 27-22 lead at halftime when Kett made two free-throws with one-seconds to play in the half.

The Bearcats opened the second half on a 6-1 run to increase the lead to 33-23 with 17:14 to play in the game when Grant Latus made a lay-up.  Undaunted, the Saints answered with a 33-16 run to take a 56-49 lead when sophomore shooting guard Jalen Clark (Frankfort, Ky./Western Hills) made two free-throws with 4:30 to play in the game.  Saint Vincent used a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 60-58 on a Dillon Stith three-pointer with 1:40 to play in the game.  That would be as close as Saint Vincent would come as Thomas More closed out the game on a 4-1 run for the 64-59 victory.

Junior point guard D'Carlo Hayes (Louisville, Ky./Male) led the team in scoring with nine points, while Clark, sophomore shooting guard Chris Richard (Louisville, Ky./Southern) junior power forward Josef Marshall (Dayton, Ohio/Trotwood Madison) added eight points each.  Junior small forward Brandon Housley (Covington, Ky./Holmes) led the team on the boards with four rebounds, Renken led the team in assists with four.

Thomas More closes out the first half of PAC play on Wednesday (January 6, 2013) when it travels to Bethany, West Virginia to play Bethany at 8 p.m.