Trailing 92-86 with 43 seconds remaining, Centre's Jason Atwell hit his fourth three-pointer of the game to cut the Saints' lead to three, 92-89. Saints sophomore guard Andrae Woodard hit one-of-two free throws with 37 seconds left to put his team back in front by four before the Colonels' Matt Jacobson hit both of his free throws to cut the Thomas More lead in half, 93-91 with 20 seconds to play.
After junior forward Chad Wachs made the second of two free throws with eight seconds left to give the Saints a three-point lead, 94-91, Atwell missed a fadeaway three-pointer at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.
Sophomore center R.K. Thurman led the Saints with a game-high 22 points and Wachs added 18 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists as Thomas More won its sixth game out the last seven, improving its record to 9-10 this year. Thurman also added 10 rebounds for the fifth double-double of the season and his career. For Wachs, Monday night marked the 10th double-double of his career and his fourth in the last six games. Over the Saints' last 14 games, either Thurman or Wachs has led the team in rebounding as the duo has accounted for 41-percent of Thomas More's rebounding total this year.
Sophomore guard Chris Thompson added 17 points and five assists for the Saints as he was 6-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. As a team, Thomas More made 8-of-12 three-point attempts. Thurman, who is currently ranked 16th in the nation in field goal percentage, made 10-of-13 attempts tonight and Wachs moved into fifth place on the single-season blocks list with three, raising his yearly total to 33.
Reserve freshmen E.J. Haynes and Shane Masters made strong contributions this evening contributing six and four points, respectively. Haynes helped Thomas More build its lead to 25 points midway through the second half and provided one of the game's highlights with a reverse dunk with just under 14 minutes left to play in the game.
The Saints return to action on Wednesday against Asbury as part of a doubleheader with the women's team. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. and will be the last of an eight-game homestand for Thomas More that started back on Jan. 8.