Box Score


Thomas Basketball (15-11, 8-8) secured the fifth seed at the 2014 Sun Conference Tournament with a 74-64 defeat of the visiting Warner University Royals (11-17, 4-13) on Wednesday evening at the TU Gymnasium.

The game opened up with TU on the line, for two, after Warner was assessed with an administrative technical foul during pre-game warm ups. Freshman guard Trey Gosier converted the technical shots for a game opening 2-0 Night Hawk lead. After six unanswered points by TU, the Royals went on a 10-2 run to tie the game at ten with 13:45 to play. The teams would find themselves knotted at twenty after exchanging baskets over the next six minutes. A three pointer and a free throw by the Royals gave them a two point advantage before junior guard Keldrick Davis connected from downtown to give the lead, 25-24, back to TU. Back to back baskets by senior forward Justyn Watkins, gave TU a 30-26 advantage. A lay-up and a free throw conversion, on the foul, by junior forward Rodney Sturkie made it a 32-26 lead for the Night Hawks with under two minutes to play. Thomas would take a 34-29 advantage into the locker room after two free throws by Watkins and a bucket followed by a free throw from the Royals.

A spin and a driving lay-up by Watkins opened the scoring in the second half. A Warner three pointer made it a 38-32 game, in favor of TU, with 17:45 to play. The Royals notched the game at thirty five but junior guard Max Grace connected from behind the arc to give the lead back to TU at 38-35. A 5-2 run by Warner would then notch the game at forty with under fourteen to play. Over the next four minutes Warner took control of the momentum and score, pulling ahead 52-48. Grace and freshman forward Adonai Rogers connected on consecutive buckets to notch the game at fifty two. A dunk by Rogers with 5:30 to play opened TU's lead to 59-54 and sophomore center Andrea Robinson connected from the inside to make it a seven point game. Five straight Royal points made it a two point game with under three to play before TU responded with five of their own, capped by a Watkins alley-oop dunk with 1:35 to play, opening up a five point advantage, 66-59, for the Night Hawks. After the dunk, Warner was awarded an administrative technical foul against the Night Hawk student section, converting one of two to make it a six point game. Down the stretch, TU converted 8 of 10 from the charity stripe to seal their tenth home win of the year.

TU will be back on the road Saturday February 22^nd at 4 p.m. when they face Webber International University in Babson Park, Fla. in their second to last regular season game of their inaugural season.