Thomas More College improved to 10-4 overall and 6-1 in the President Athletic Conference (PAC) as it defeated Waynesburg University tonight (January 11, 2017) 69-68.
The game was close in the second half and the Saints were led by sophomore forward Ralph Stone (Shelbyville, Ky./Martha Layne Collins), who was a spark off the bench offensively and recorded five points and seven rebounds. Junior center Simon Clifford (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) was the leading scorer for the Saints tonight finishing the game with 17 points and eight rebounds. Other scorers for that reached double-figures were sophomore guard Ryne Callahan (Morehead, Ky./Rowan County),who finished with 16 points and sophomore guard Damion King (Winchester, Ky./George Rogers Clark), who finished with 15 points.
Talking to Stone after the game we asked him what led to the spark he gave to the team and he told us, “Well my role as the back-up to Brandon Horne is to bring energy off the bench and that is what I did. I worry about working hard and trying to give the spark on defense since the defense leads to the offense.”
The Yellow Jackets of Waynesburg had seven players reach the scoring column and out of those seven four scored in double-digits. Glen Hoffman had tonight’s game high finishing with 21 points. Other scorers were Timmy Kaiser, who finished with 12 points, Marcus Wallace, who finished with 10 points and Nate Gearhart, who also finished with 10 points.
Catching up with head coach Drew Cooper after the game we asked him about his team’s late game efforts and he told us, “I hope this game gives us confidence as it relates to late game execution as our late game execution was tremendous tonight.”
The Saints will practice the next two days and then take on Washington & Jefferson College inside the Connor Convocation Center in a PAC matchup. Tip-off will be at 3 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score
Waynesburg vs Thomas More
01/11/17 7:30 p.m. at Crestview Hills, Ky. – Connor Center
At Crestview Hills, Ky. – Connor Center
THOMAS MORE 69, WAYNESBURG 68
WAYNESBURG (4-10, 2-5 PAC)
Jon Knab 9-15 1-2 21; Timmy Kaiser 5-10 0-0 12; Marcus Wallace 5-6 0-0 10;
Nate Gearhart 4-7 0-0 10; Brennan Smith 3-12 0-0 7; Glen Hoffman 2-4 0-0 5;
Sam Heeter 1-3 0-0 3; Mike Nugent 0-0 0-0 0; Clay Carper 0-3 0-0 0; Kendall
Paige 0-2 0-0 0; Frank Bozicevic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 1-2 68.
THOMAS MORE (10-4, 6-1 PAC)
Simon Clifford 8-11 1-1 17; Ryne Callahan 4-9 5-8 16; Damion King 6-10 3-4
15; Sawyer Pauly 1-4 6-6 8; Ralph Stone 2-7 1-2 5; Brandon Horne 0-2 3-4 3;
Austin Young 1-4 0-0 2; Michael Griffin 1-3 0-0 2; Junior Stockwell 0-1 1-2
1; Jacob Hall 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 20-27 69.
Waynesburg……………….. 26 42 – 68
Thomas More………………. 38 31 – 69
3-point goals–Waynesburg 9-26 (Nate Gearhart 2-4; Jon Knab 2-5; Timmy
Kaiser 2-3; Brennan Smith 1-6; Glen Hoffman 1-2; Sam Heeter 1-3; Clay Carper
0-2; Kendall Paige 0-1), Thomas More 3-12 (Ryne Callahan 3-7; Damion King
0-1; Sawyer Pauly 0-1; Ralph Stone 0-1; Brandon Horne 0-1; Michael Griffin
0-1). Fouled out–Waynesburg-Kendall Paige, Thomas More-None.
Rebounds–Waynesburg 33 (Kendall Paige 6), Thomas More 33 (Simon Clifford
8). Assists–Waynesburg 19 (Kendall Paige 5), Thomas More 13 (Damion King
4). Total fouls–Waynesburg 21, Thomas More 11. Technical
fouls–Waynesburg-None, Thomas More-None. A-246
Cory Blackson
Director of Athletic Communications and Compliance
Thomas More College