Box Score

THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The No. 20 Thomas University men's basketball team picked up its tenth win of the season defeating Florida Memorial University 83-75 at home this afternoon.
 
Defensive stops, forced turnovers, and noticeable set adjustments from scouting reports and team preparation for today's individual matchups were the key attributors to the Night Hawks' victory.  In previous games this season, FMU's Samuel Dorismond has been a dominate force on offense averaging 23.4 points a game while shooting 48.9% from the field and 40.5% from behind the arch.  This afternoon, however, the Night Hawks defense halted Dorismond's usual production yielding him void at times and frustrated on the offensive end of the floor. 
 
The Night Hawks held Dorismond to five first half points and powered through the earlier stages of the first half eventually building a 12 point lead heading into the intermission.
 
While the Night Hawks offense continued to shoot lights out, the Lions powered back in the second half.  The Lions forced four consecutive Night Hawk turnovers that contributed to its first lead (69-68) since 17:11 remaining in the first half. The Hunter Green and White answered back with a 13-3 run to end the game and pull out the victory.
 

Sophomore guard Adonai Rogers led a group of four Night Hawks who scored in double digits.  Rogers, who had 18 points, also recorded two assists and two steals in the effort.  Max Grace contributed 15 points and six rebounds while senior guard Rodney Sturkie had 13 points and four rebounds.  College Park, Ga. native Alan Love narrowly missed a double-double scoring 10 points and bringing down eight boards.
 
The victory was a truly a team effort on both ends of the floor. Defensively, the squad had 13 steals while forcing 19 turnovers. Offensively, the Night Hawks shot 52.8% from the field and converted 22 of their 30 shots from the charity stripe.
 
Head coach Stephen Cox remarked, "I'm thrilled for the guys to be able to hang on for our second conference win. At one point, we had a 17 point lead in second half and then all-of-a-sudden they took the lead by two. We were able to get a few defensive rebounds late and knocked down some free throws to seal the win. We do need to take care of the basketball better than committing 25 costly turnovers. On a brighter note, I thought we shared the basketball well by having 14 assists."
 
Thomas improves to 10-1, 2-0 in TSC play, on the season sending FMU to 0-6, 0-1 in TSC play.
 
Cox continued, "Also, I'm really happy for Max Grace on finishing his degree this semester. This accomplishment marks the second men's basketball graduate since our staff took over in 2012. Congrats Max!"
 
The Night Hawks return to the court on Tuesday, Dec. 16 when they host College of Coastal Georgia at the TU Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. 
 
For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com.  Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of your TU men's basketball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksMBKB.