THOMASVILLE, Ga. - Thomas begins the second half of its Sun Conference (TSC) schedule Thursday inside TU Gymnasium against Johnson & Wales (Fla.) at 7:30 p.m. ET.
In addition to live stats, the contest will be televised online through Night Hawks Television. Updates will also be available on Thomas' official men's basketball Twitter account (@NightHawksMBKB).
Thursday's game is sponsored by South Georgia Spine, Joint & Rehab Center, South Georgia's leading treatment center for any non-surgical healthcare needs. From chiropractic care to interventional pain management and from physical therapy to massage therapy and wellness programs, they are the area's experts on getting and keeping you well. Their state of the art approach to healthcare combines the unique talents of Medical Interventional Pain Management, Licensed Physical Therapists, Chiropractic, Decompression Therapy, Massage Therapy, and Neurodiagnostics.
LaToya's School of Dance, out of Thomasville, will perform at halftime.
Game 18/Johnson & Wales (4-15, 2-7 TSC) at Thomas (9-8, 4-5 TSC)
Thursday, Jan. 18 • 7:30 p.m. ET
Thomasville, Ga. • TU Gymnasium
TV:Â Night Hawks Television
Live Stats:Â Night Hawks Television
Twitter Updates:Â @NightHawksMBKB
Series History:Â Thomas trails 4-6 (Thomas lost last 3)
Record at Thomas:Â 3-1
Record at Johnson & Wales:Â 1-5
Record at Neutral Site:Â 0-0
Coach Brent Crews vs. Johnson & Wales: 1-4
ABOUT THOMAS
The Night Hawks are coming off a 74-69 loss at Coastal Georgia (Fla.), which is receiving votes in the latest Top 25 poll, on Jan. 13 in league play. The loss snapped Thomas' four-game win streak, its first loss in 31 days.
The contest that featured 12 ties and 13 lead changes.
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Johnnel Ginnie layup at the 6:07 mark of the second half put Thomas up 64-62, but a Mariner 3-pointer on the next trip down the court began a 7-0 run.Â
Katrell Myers converted two free throws with 1:28 left to trim his team's deficit to 69-66, but a trey put the Mariners back up by two possessions 19 seconds later.
Coastal Georgia led by eight in the first half after a made 3-point shot at the 12:46 mark, but Thomas responded with a 9-0 run following a Myers jumper. Coastal Georgia took a 33-28 advantage with 2:07 remaining in the half before the Night Hawks finished the period scoring six-straight, with the last bucket coming from Myers with three seconds on the clock, to carry a 34-33 lead into the break.
JaVoris Cooks tallied 14 points, while Ginnie and Myers each had 13.Â
Jakari Bush scored eight points. Myers also had seven boards.
Thomas was 35.6 percent (21-of-59) from the floor and 19-of-26 from the line.Â
ABOUT JOHNSON & WALES
The Wildcats are coming off a 74-67 loss at Webber International (Fla.) on Jan. 13 in conference action.
Trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half, Johnson & Wales used a 24-7 run to tie the game but could not take the lead.
A pair of free throws by Gino Fils-Aime tied the game at 62 with 4:17 left in the contest. However, the Warriors used an 8-0 run to retake the lead for good.
Isa Brandon led all Wildcats with his 10th double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Of his 15 boards, eight were collected on the offense side. Brandon also registered three blocks. Jack Joseph posted 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field, including five treys. Fils-Aime added 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting and dished out five assists.
The Wildcats finished the game shooting 34.3 percent from the floor (24-of-70) and 30.8 percent from 3-point range (12-of-39).Â
Johnson & Wales has lost three-straight contests and six of its last seven.
The Wildcats rank 11th in NAIA Division II in blocks (77) and 26th in 3-point field goals made per game (9.6).
Brandon ranks fifth nationally in offensive rebounds per game (3.8) and rebounds per game (10.6).
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST THE WILDCATS
Thomas lost at Johnson & Wales, 68-55, on Nov. 18 in league play.
Johnson & Wales opened the game on a 9-0 run, holding Thomas scoreless for the first 4:51 until a D.J. Roulhac layup. The Night Hawks used a 7-0 run to trim the deficit to 19-17 following a Jalen Bonds offensive rebound and putback at the 2:03 mark. Back-to-back treys by Ginnie and Jerodd Blount in the final 59 seconds of the period brought the Green and White within one possession, 25-23, at halftime.
The Wildcats scored the first five points of the second stanza, as an Anthony Young 3 gave his team a 30-24 upper hand with 18:46 to go, but trailing 34-25, Thomas would force a tie at the 15:28 mark courtesy of a 9-0 run by Blount and Bonds. A 7-0 run, capped by an Ivan Tomic layup midway through the half, gave Crews' team its first lead of the day, 44-42.
However, Johnson & Wales countered with a 9-0 run, as the Wildcats outscored the Night Hawks 26-14 in the final 9:14 to pull away. After being limited to less than 32 percent shooting, 5-of-21 from 3 and 0-2 from the line in the first half, the home team shot 55 percent (11-of-20) from the field, 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from behind the arc and 94 percent (16-of-17) from the line in the final 20 minutes.Â
Nick Preradovic led Johnson & Wales with 16 points. He was 4-of-8 from deep and 4-of-4 from the line. Gino Fils-Aime added 14 points, while Antonio Ruby had 13. Brandon pulled down nine rebounds.
Cooks ended with 15 points for Thomas, going a perfect (4-of-4) from the stripe. Blount recorded 10 points and four steals, while Bonds contributed nine points on 4-of-7 shooting. Cooks and Ginnie each hauled in seven rebounds. Tomic had three steals.Â
TIP-INS
- Demetrius Rivers scored a career-high 13 points in Thomas' last home game Jan. 9 against Reinhardt (Ga.).
- Thomas is 5-1 at home this season, including 2-1 against TSC foes.
- Thomas is 2-0 in white jerseys.
- Cooks, the leading scorer in program history, has totaled 1,238Â points.
- The Green and White are 4-0Â this season when allowing 66 points or fewer.
- Thomas ranks 22nd in NAIA Division II in offensive rebounds per game (12.4), 28th in field goal percentage defense (0.428) and 40th in scoring defense per game (74.6).
- Cooks ranks sixth in the country in 3-point field goals made per game (3.4).Â
- Thomas is 4-1Â this season when scoring 83 points or more.
- The Night Hawks are 3-1 when Ginnie scores 17 points or more.
- 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.Â
- Cooks' 15 3-point attempts on Nov. 11 against Talladega (Ala.), a NAIA Division I member, are tied for the most by any Sun Conference player in a game this season.
- Thomas faces three ranked opponents - No. 14 Saint Thomas (Fla.), No. 15 Southeastern (Fla.) and No. 25 Keiser (Fla.) - and two that are receiving votes - Warner (Fla.) and Coastal Georgia - in the latest NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25. The Night Hawks defeated the Royals on Dec. 9 and won at the Fire on Jan. 4 but lost at the Seahawks on Nov. 16, to the Bobcats on Dec. 2 and at the Mariners on Jan. 13.
- Thomas' Marcus Louis, Adrian Sims, Shaquille Holley and Cedric Wright are sitting out this season. Louis and Sims will each have four seasons of eligibility remaining, while Holley and Wright will each have two.
