(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - The Thomas More College men's basketball team extended its winnings streak to eight games and finished the month of January undefeated with an 82-65, win over Geneva College tonight (Wednesday, January 30, 2013) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
With the win, the Saints improve to 17-3 overall and 10-1 in the PAC and with the loss, the Golden Tornadoes fall to 2-17 overall and 2-9 in the PAC.
Geneva took an early 4-2 lead when DJ Damazo made a jumper with 17:56 to play in the first half. Thomas More answered with a 14-6 run to take a 16-10 lead with 13:50 to play in the opening half when senior shooting guard Ross Renken (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) made two free-throws. The Golden Tornadoes responded with an 11-5 run capped by a Keynon Jackson lay-up to tie the game at 21-21 at the 8:31 mark of the first half. The Saints used an 18-9 run to extend the lead to 39-30 with 1:38 to play in the first half when Renken made one-of-two free-throws. Geneva closed out the half on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 39-36 at halftime when Matt Lorrell made a lay-up at the buzzer.
Thomas More opened the second half on a 28-10 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 67-46 with 10:46 to play in the game when junior point guard Eliot Pipes (Nashville, Tenn./Hillsboro) made a three-pointer. Geneva answered with a 16-10 run capped by a Zac Rorick three-pointer with 3:49 to play in the game to cut the lead to 77-62. That was as close as Geneva would come as Thomas More closed out the game o na 5-3 run for the 82-65 victory.
Thomas More had three players finish with double-figure scoring as junior point guard D'Carlo Hayes (Louisville, Ky./Male) had a team-high 16 points, while sophomore shooting guard Drew Mumford (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy) had 12 and junior small forward Brandon Housley (Covington, Ky./Holmes) finished with 11. Housley and junior point guard Spencer Berlekamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Kings) led the team on the boards with five rebounds each, while Mumford led the team in assists with four.
Thomas More returns to action on Saturday (February 2) when it travels to Washington, Pennsylvania to play PAC rival Washington & Jefferson College. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside the Henry Memorial Center.