The NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top-25 Poll has been released and the Thomas More men’s basketball team is ranked 10th in the country. The Saints have been on a roll recently, winning five games in a row and sitting at 14-2 overall and 9-2 in the conference.
The winning streak began with a thrilling 84-81 overtime victory at Bethel University (Tenn.) on Dec. 17. They then picked up a pair of wins in the St. Francis Fighting Saints New Year’s Classic over the University of Saint Francis (Ill.), 70-68, and Roosevelt University, 85-72. They rang in the new year at home last Thursday night with a win over Campbellsville University 70-62 before a road win at Lindsey Wilson College Saturday afternoon 78-72.
Thomas More has continued to be led by redshirt junior Reid Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County), who had 22 or more points in three of those five games. Sophomore Casey George (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) was named MSC Player of the Week on Jan. 2 for his performance over a pair of games at Saint Francis. He had 12 against the Fighting Saints before a career-high 25 against the Lakers of Roosevelt.
Sophomore Kyle Ross (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) has also been a spark plug for the Saints since making his season debut at Freed-Hardeman. He has had 10 or more points in four of six games, including a double-double (13p, 11r) at Bethel.
Thomas More returns to action tomorrow night at Cumberland University at 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT. They defeated the Phoenix at home earlier this season 70-63 on Dec. 3. With a strong performance in their next game, the Saints could potentially move up in the next poll. Fans are excited to see how the team will fare in the rest of the season.
