Senior forward Drew Mumford (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy) scored a game-high 26 points to lead the fourth-seeded Thomas More College men’s basketball team to a 72-56 win over fifth-seeded Thiel College Tuesday in a quarterfinal game of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament at Connor Convocation Center.
With the win, the Saints improve to 17-9 and advance to play top-seeded Saint Vincent College on Thursday in a semifinal game. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. at the Robert S. Carey Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. With the loss, the Tomcats end the season at 13-13.
Thiel jumped out to an early 16-4 lead when Josh Johnson completed an old fashion three-point play with 13:54 to play in the first half. Thomas More answered with a 25-10 run to take a 29-26 lead with 57-seconds to play in the opening half when freshman center Louis Maniacci (Burlington, Ky./Cooper) made a lay-up. Thiel’s Tyreik Burton made two free-throws with 25-seconds to play in the half to cut the lead to 29-28 at halftime.
The Saints opened the second half on a 5-2 run capped by a Mumford lay-up to increase the lead to 18:05 to play in the second half. Thiel answered with a 7-0 run to take a 37-34 lead with 14:59 to play in the half when Eric Mallinger made one-of-two free-throws. Thomas More closed out the game on a 38-19 run.
Senior forward Jalen Clark (Frankfort, Ky./Western Hills) joined Mumford in double-figure scoring with 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to record a double-double. Sophomore guard/forward Nate McGovney (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and dished out a game-high four assists. Maniacci blocked five shots.
From Thomas More Athletics