(WASHINGTON, Pa.) - The Thomas More College men's basketball team extends winning streak to nine games with a 90-80 win over Washington & Jefferson College today (Saturday, February 2, 2013) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game at the Henry Memorial Center in Washington, Pennsylvania.

With the win, the Saints improve to 18-3 overall and 11-1 in the PAC and are undefeated in the calendar year 2013.  With the loss, the Presidents fall to 8-14 overall and 6-7 in the PAC.

Thomas More took an early 11-4 lead when junior point guard D'Carlo Hayes (Louisville, Ky./Male) made a lay-up with 17:28 to play in the first half.  Washington & Jefferson answered with an 11-4 run to tie the game at 15-15 with 11:04 to play in the opening half when Mike Resnik made two free-throws.  The Saints responded with a 4-0 run capped by a Hayes jumper to take a 19-15 lead with 9:40 to play in the half.  W&J used an 8-3 run to take a 23-22 lead when Brett RubinGoldstein made a lay-up with 6:44 to play in the opening half.  Thomas More answered with an 18-7 run capped by a Hayes three-pointer to take its biggest lead of the half at 40-30 with 27-seconds to play in the first half.  W&J's Doug Johnson made a three-pointer with five seconds to play in the half to cut the Saints' lead to 40-33 at intermission.

W&J opened the second half on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 40-37 with 19:11 to play in the game when Connor Deckard made a lay-up.  Thomas More answered with a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 46-37 when senior point guard Ryan Hamm (Maysville, Ky./Mason County) made a three-pointer with 16:22 to play in the game.  Zach Bellhy capped a Presidents' 5-0 run with a lay-up to cut the lead to 46-42 with 14:43 to play in the game.  The Saints responded with a 25-20 run to increase the lead to 71-62 with 6:11 to play in the game when sophomore shooting guard Drew Mumford (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy) made a three-pointer.  W&J answered with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 73-68 with 3:48 to play in the game when Bellhy made two free-throws.  That would be as close as W&J would come as Thomas More closed out the game on a 17-12 run for the 90-80 victory.

For the game, the Saints shot 52.9 percent (27-of-51) from the floor, including 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from behind the three-point arc.  Defensively, Thomas More forced 20 W&J turnovers, while only committing 10 turnovers.

Four Saints finished in double-figure scoring as Hayes had a game-high 23 points, junior point guard Spencer Berlekamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Kings) finished with 21, Hamm added 14 and junior power forward Josef Marshall (Dayton, Ohio/Trotwood Madison) had 10.  Thomas More was led on the boards by Marshall, senior power forward Michael Rowan (Goshen, Ky./North Oldham) and junior small forward Brandon Housley (Covington, Ky./Holmes) as they each pulled down three rebounds.  Mumford and Hayes led the team in assists with three, while Berlekamp and junior point guard Eliot Pipes (Nashville, Tenn./Hillsboro) led the team in steals with two each.

Thomas More returns to action on Wednesday (February 6) when it travels to New Wilmington, Pennsylvania to play Westminster College at 8 p.m.