THOMASVILLE, Ga. - Thomas faces Webber International (Fla.) in Sun Conference (TSC) action Wednesday inside Turner Athletic Center on the campus of Warner (Fla.). Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
In addition to live stats, the match will be televised online through Stretch Internet. Updates will also be available on Thomas' official men's basketball Twitter account (@NightHawksMBKB).
Game 12/Thomas (5-6, 2-3 TSC) at Webber International (3-5, 1-3 TSC)
Wednesday, Dec. 13 • 7:30 p.m. ET
Lake Wales, Fla. • Turner Athletic Center
TV:Â Stretch Internet
Live Stats:Â Stretch Internet
Twitter Updates:Â @NightHawksMBKB
Series History:Â Thomas leads 5-3 (Thomas won last game)
Record at Thomas:Â 3-1
Record at Webber International:Â 2-2
Record at Neutral Site:Â 0-0
Coach Brent Crews vs. Webber International: 2-2
ABOUT THOMAS
The Night Hawks are coming off a 70-66 win over then-No. 24 Warner (Fla.) on Dec. 9 in TU Gymnasium in league play. The Night Hawks ended a five-game losing streak in the series.
Willie Holloway scored a season-high 19 points, andÂ
Katrell Myers provided 16 off the bench for Thomas.
Holloway was 8-of-15Â shooting and tied a season-high with nine rebounds. Myers, in his first game this season, was 6-of-12 from the field to go along with eight boards.Â
D.J. Roulhac had 10 points.Â
Ivan Tomic andÂ
JaVoris Cooks each had seven rebounds.Â
Keion Peoples dished out five assists.
Thomas shot 41.7 percent (25-of-60) from the floor and 18-of-25 from the stripe. The Night Hawks totaled 18 assists on 25 made baskets and outrebounded Warner 50-28, including 20-11 on the offensive glass, leading to 12 second chance points. Thomas outscored the visitors in the paint, 38-24.
Both teams struggled from deep, going a combined 7-of-31.
The Night Hawks outscored Warner 18-9 in the final 7:16 of the first half, limiting the Royals to just 4-of-11 from the floor during the stretch, to lead 37-27 at the break.
Thomas stretched its advantage to 12 points three times in the first 1:41 of the second period.Â
A Khalil Ozuna dunk in transition at the seven-minute mark whittled Warner's deficit to 54-53, but a Tomic layup 2:03 later stretched the margin back to five. Cooks found Holloway on a fastbreak for a two-handed slam with 1:45 to play to keep Thomas' lead at five points.
Melton Sanders canned a trey with 13 seconds remaining, but Cooks converted the double bonus to seal his team's fourth win in five home games this season.
ABOUT WEBBER INTERNATIONAL
The Warriors are coming off a 106-46 exhibition loss at Florida Atlantic on Sunday.
Johnathan Childs scored nine points to lead Webber International, while Garrett Woodmansee was next with eight and Tommie Luke had six. Four Warriors (Shaquille Williams, Nicholas Blocker, Obi Romeo and Georges Dorvillien) added five points. Additionally, Romeo led the team in rebounds with eight.
Sunday's result represented the fourth game in a row that Florida Atlantic (6-3) scored 90-plus points (school record). Additionally, the 60-point margin of victory was the largest in school history.
Romeo got the Warriors on the board with a put back lay-in, and then a score by Austin Evans made it 10-4. After a 10-0 Florida Atlantic run, Childs connected on a jumper and then scored again a few possessions later to make it 23-8.
After the Owls, who started the game 5-of-5 from 3-point range, connected on their sixth 3Â of the opening half, Childs answered with a 3Â of his own to make it 32-11, and then Woodmansee converted on three-straight free throw attempts to make it 34-14.
A basket from Romeo off the assist from Rasheem Etienne made it 38-16 before the Owls led 43-16 with eight minutes left in the first half. To that point, the Owls were 7-of-10 from 3, while Webber International was only 1-of-9. However, Webber International began to get it going a little bit as Woodmansee and Williams both connected from long range and Dorvillien found the bottom of the net on a long jumper to bring the score to 57-25.
At the half, Webber International trailed by 38 and was only 3-of-13 from 3 and 9-of-30 from the field, while Florida Atlantic was 50 percent (9-18) from 3 and 58.7 percent (27-46) from the field.
Webber International ranks 28th in NAIA Division II in rebound margin (5.5) and 29th in blocks per game (3.3).
Blocker is ninth nationally in assist/turnover ratio (4.5). Nikita Orap ranks 14th in 3-point field goal percentage (0.500). Osandai Vaughn is 31st in points per game (19.4).
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST THE WARRIORS
Thomas defeated Webber International, 105-82, on Jan. 12, 2017, inside TU Gymnasium. The Night Hawks led from start to finish and extended its winning streak to four.
Myers and Jalen Bonds led the Night Hawks with 17 points each, while Cooks and Holloway led the team with six rebounds each. Tre Ford and T.J. Rines both provided five assists on the night.Â
The Night Hawks went on an 11-3 run in the first half and opened up a 29-20 lead. The Warriors responded with a 7-0 run and cut the lead to 29-27. Rines knocked down a 3-pointer that gave Thomas it's first double-digit lead of the game at 38-28. Webber International responded with another 7-0 run, but the Night Hawks led 45-37 lead at the break.
Thomas went on a 7-0 run early in the second half and opened up a 63-46 lead. The Night Hawks went on an 8-1 run and held a 95-71 lead, their largest of the game. Thomas closed the game with six free throws.
The Night Hawks held a 49-28 edge in bench points and a 26-11 edge in points off turnovers while forcing 22 Warrior miscues.
TIP-INS
- Myers averaged 16.5 points in two games against the Warriors last season.
- Wednesday's game has been moved to Turner Athletic Center at Warner (Fla.) due to ongoing renovations to Webber International's Sabbagh Athletic Center.
- Thomas ranks 20th in NAIA Division II in offensive rebounds per game (12.7) and 43rd in scoring defense per game (74.0).
- Cooks ranks sixth in the country in 3-point field goals made per game (3.4). Holloway is 45th in offensive rebounds per game (2.7).
- Thomas is 3-0 this season when scoring 83 points or more.
- The Night Hawks are 3-1 when Ginnie scores 17 or more points.
- In the Oct. 27 season-opener at Point (Ga.), Cooks moved past former teammate Adanoi Rogers at the 16:47 mark of the first half on a trey to become the school's all-time leading scorer.
- Also on Oct. 27, Cooks became the program's first member of the 1,000-point club following two made free throws with 1:13 left in the second half. He now has 1,142Â career points.
- Cooks' 15 3-point attempts on Nov. 11 against Talladega (Ala.) are the most by any TSC player in a game this season.
- Thomas faces three ranked opponents - No. 11 Southeastern (Fla.), No. 22 Saint Thomas (Fla.) and No. 24 Warner - and one that is receiving votes - Keiser (Fla.) - in the latest NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25. The Night Hawks defeated the Royals on Dec. 9 but lost at the Seahawks on Nov. 16 and to the Bobcats on Dec. 2.
- Thomas' Demetrius Rivers is redshirting this season and will have four seasons of eligibility remaining.
