Freshman guard Damion King (Winchester, Ky./George Rogers Clark) recorded a double-double Tuesday to lead the fourth-seeded Thomas More College men’s basketball team to a 72-56 win over fifth-seeded Waynesburg University in the quarterfinal round of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament at the Connor Convocation Center.
With the win, the Saints improve to 16-10 and advance to play third-seeded Bethany College in a semifinal round game at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Hummel Field House in Bethany, West Virginia. The Yellow Jackets end the season at 10-16.
Waynesburg jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with 17:42 to play in the first half when Dylan O’Hara made two free-throws. Thomas More answered with a 27-8 run to build a 27-12 lead when freshman forward Junior Stockwell (Florence, Ky./Boone County (Ky.) converted a three-point play with 8:29 to play in the first half.
The Yellow Jackets closed out the half on a 22-13 run to cut the lead to 40-34 at halftime when DJ Ritchie made a three-pointer with 1:16 to play in the first half.
Thomas More opened the second half on a 26-14 run to extend the lead to 66-48 with 6:20 to play in the game when King made a jumper. Waynesburg closed out the game on an 8-6 run, but it wasn’t enough as Thomas More went onto the 72-56 victory.
King scored 12 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to record his double-double. Freshman guard Ryne Callahan (Morehead, Ky./Rowan County) led all scorers with 15 points, while Stockwell and sophomore forward Austin Young (Campbellsburg, Ky./Henry County) each scored 11 points.
King and sophomore guard Jacob Hall (Bowling Green, Ky./Warren Central) led the team with three assists each.
From TMC Athletics