Improbable rally lifts Thomas More men to 10th straight win, 86-80 over Geneva on Saturday

By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter

Long winning streaks in college basketball usually include a great comeback or two.

For Thomas More College’s men, Saturday’s rally against Geneva (Pa.) will be remembered as absolutely amazing.

Trailing Geneva 78-65 with only 3:56 remaining in the game, Thomas More applied full-court pressure in a desperate attempt to keep its nine-game winning streak alive. Five Geneva turnovers later, not to mention a costly technical foul assessed to the visitors with 29 seconds left on the clock, the Saints had pulled out a stunning 86-80 victory for their 10th consecutive win.

Damion King ignited the game-ending 21-2 run by scoring 10 of his 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left to give Thomas More an 80-78 lead. After Geneva’s Jimmy Leichliter picked up both a foul and a technical foul with 29 seconds on the clock, King converted four straight free throws to extend the Thomas More advantage to 84-78 and seal the improbable win.

King also grabbed 13 rebounds as Thomas More improved to 17-4 overall, 13-1 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Brandon Horne added 17 points and six rebounds for the Saints, who are in sole possession of first place in the PAC standings.

Geneva (10-11, 6-8 PAC) committed just 10 turnovers in the game, but five of those were during the final 3:56. The Golden Tornadoes also missed two straight front ends of the bonus in the last 1:35 to give Thomas More an opportunity for the wild comeback in the Connor Convocation Center.

Both teams shot 50 percent from the field, but Thomas More turned the ball over just six times. Geneva knocked down 12 shots from 3-point range, while Thomas More made 11 treys.

The longest winning streak in Thomas More history is 12, set during the 2012-13 season. The Saints are still unbeaten (10-0) in 2018, with their last defeat coming on Dec. 30 against Mount St. Joseph.

Thomas More goes for its 11th straight victory Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. with a road game at Westminster (Pa.).

TMC WOMEN WIN 20TH: The Thomas More women scored the first 12 points of the game and coasted to a 108-43 victory over Geneva on Saturday. The Saints extended their winning streak to 19 and improved to 20-1 overall, 14-0 in the PAC.

Thomas More, which is ranked No. 4 nationally in the NCAA Division III poll, built a 56-20 lead at halftime by shooting 68.6 percent from the field. The Saints finished at a blistering 67.2 percent for the game, including 8-for-15 shooting from 3-point range.

Madison Temple scored 20 points to lead Thomas More, which had 13 players dent the scoring column. Temple also moved into a tie for 11th place in all-time scoring at Thomas More with 1,188 career points.

Nikki Kiernan added 13 points for the Saints, while teammate Emily Schultz scored 10. Callie Ford scored 18 points to lead Geneva, which fell to 6-15 overall, 3-11 in the PAC.

Thomas More dominated the inside and finished with a whopping 62-10 advantage in points in the paint. The Saints also outscored the visitors 35-4 in points off turnovers.

Thomas More has now won 129 consecutive games against PAC foes since a 68-65 loss at Saint Vincent (Pa.) College on Jan. 14, 2012. The NCAA forced the Saints to vacate every win during the 2014-15 season due to an eligibility issue, wiping out 20 victories against PAC schools.

Thomas More plays at Westminster (Pa.) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

NKU WOMEN DEFEAT MILWAUKEE: The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team built an 18-point lead in the third quarter and held off a furious Milwaukee rally to claim a 60-57 road win on Saturday.

NKU (6-17 overall, 4-8 Horizon League) held Milwaukee to just 14.8 percent shooting from the field in the first half to build a 29-15 lead at the break. Milwaukee, in fact, did not convert a field goal during the final six minutes of the second quarter.

Milwaukee hit five 3-pointers during the third quarter and eventually cut the NKU lead to two points late in the fourth quarter. With NKU holding a 60-57 lead, Kailey Coffey blocked a 3-point attempt by Milwaukee at the buzzer to preserve the win.

Molly Glick paced NKU with 15 points, 11 in the second half. Glick drained a trio of 3-pointers in the second half, marking her fourth consecutive game with three or more treys.

Coffey recorded the third double-double of her career with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jazmyne Geist added a career-high 12 points for NKU, which shot 45.7 percent from the field and held Milwaukee (17-7 overall, 8-4 Horizon League) to 31.4 percent shooting.

NKU plays host to Oakland at 5 p.m. Thursday at BB&T Arena.

EKU FALLS TO TENNESSEE STATE: Delano Spencer scored 20 points as Tennessee State posted a 73-60 win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at McBrayer Arena in Richmond.

Christian Mekowulu added 19 points for Tennessee State, which improved to 12-11 overall, 7-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Darreon Reddick chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers, who made 50 percent of their shots from the field and held the Colonels to 42 percent. Tennessee State also finished with a 36-25 rebounding advantage.

Eastern Kentucky’s Nick Mayo scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field to go along with six rebounds, three steals and a block. The Colonels dropped to 8-17 overall, 2-10 in the OVC.