Muskingum (7-3) finished with three players in double figures, led by Zach Ross' game-high 18. Roy Skidmore and Jeff Smallwood added 13 and 10, respectively.
Senior guard Daryl Moore and junior forward Stephen Laird each had 13 points to lead the Tomcats (4-6), while junior guard Henry Passerrello added 12 points on three-of-four shooting from three-point range in the loss.
Thiel was able to cut an early Muskie lead to nine (23-14) on a lay up by freshman forward Joe Herrmann at the 12-minute mark, but Muskingum outscored the Tomcats 21-3 over the next 6:11 to go up 27 (44-17). Thiel finished the half on a 9-3 run to trim the lead to 21 (51-30) going into the half.
Passerrello opened the second half of action with a three to lessen the lead to 18 (51-33), but once again the Muskies overpowered the Tomcats with a 20-8 run over the following nine minutes to go up 30 (71-41) before going on to post the victory.
Thiel will take on the loser of the Houghton College and Malone College game (8 p.m. Tuesday) in the consolation game Wednesday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score Thiel College vs Muskingum College 12/21/04 6:00 p.m. at Muskingum College At Muskingum College MUSKINGUM COLLEGE 89, THIEL COLLEGE 62 THIEL COLLEGE (4-6) Stephen Laird 4-13 3-3 13; Daryl Moore 5-11 3-5 13; Henry Passerrello 3-4 3-6 12; CJ Hunt 3-7 0-0 8; Max Slater 2-4 0-0 4; Damien Williams 2-4 0-0 4; Gary Gates 1-2 0-0 2; Nick Mihalik 1-1 0-0 2; Percy Sweeting 1-7 0-0 2; Joe Herrmann 1-3 0-0 2; Brad Bowman 0-0 0-0 0; Ross Watson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 9-14 62. MUSKINGUM COLLEGE (7-3) Zach Ross 6-11 3-4 18; Roy Skidmore 5-5 0-1 13; Jeff Smallwood 2-3 4-6 10; Cole Pittis 3-3 2-2 8; Jeremy Ady 2-5 3-3 7; Andy Mix 3-6 1-2 7; Matt Dansby 3-6 0-0 6; Graig Turson 1-4 2-2 5; Cliff Sprang 1-1 1-2 3; Tom Price 1-3 1-4 3; Nick Shy 0-0 3-4 3; Andy Glass 1-1 0-0 2; Jason Dicken 1-1 0-0 2; DJ Schrock 1-2 0-2 2; Dan DeCrane 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-51 20-32 89. Thiel College................. 30 32 - 62 Muskingum College............. 51 38 - 89 3-point goals-Thiel College 7-23 (Henry Passerrello 3-4; CJ Hunt 2-5; Stephen Laird 2-7; Damien Williams 0-2; Percy Sweeting 0-1; Joe Herrmann 0-1; Ross Watson 0-1; Daryl Moore 0-2), Muskingum College 9-17 (Roy Skidmore 3-3; Zach Ross 3-5; Jeff Smallwood 2-2; Graig Turson 1-4; Matt Dansby 0-1; Tom Price 0-1; DJ Schrock 0-1). Fouled out--Thiel College-Max Slater, Muskingum College-None. Rebounds-Thiel College 30 (Henry Passerrello 5), Muskingum College 33 (Matt Dansby 11). Assists-Thiel College 16 (Daryl Moore 3; Joe Herrmann 3), Muskingum College 23 (Cliff Sprang 5). Total fouls-Thiel College 25, Muskingum College 14. A-387 Muskingum advances to Christmas Tournament Championship game at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Thiel plays at 1:00 p.m. in the consolation game.