THOMASVILLE, Ga. - Thomas hosts No. 25 Keiser (Fla.) in Sun Conference (TSC) play Saturday inside TU Gymnasium at 4 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).
Saturday's game is sponsored by New Hire Solutions. As an employment agency in Thomasville, New Hire Solutions is committed to providing outstanding service to the community and surrounding areas. Believing that the foundation of any successful business is built upon excellent customer service, New Hire Solutions strives to ensure that any business with
them is handled in a professional manner.
Game 19/#25 Keiser (13-6, 8-2 TSC) at Thomas (9-9, 4-6 TSC)
Saturday, Jan. 20 • 4 p.m. ET
Thomasville, Ga. • TU Gymnasium
TV:Â Night Hawks Television
Live Stats:Â Night Hawks Television
Twitter Updates:Â @NightHawksMBKB
Series History: Thomas trails 3-6 (Thomas lost last game)
Record at Thomas:Â 2-2
Record at Keiser:Â 1-4
Record at Neutral Site:Â 0-0
Coach Brent Crews vs. Keiser: 2-3
ABOUT THOMAS
The Night Hawks are coming off a 74-68 loss to Johnson & Wales (Fla.) on Thursday in league play and suffered just their second loss in seven home games.
Katrell Myers finished with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting and a perfect 6-of-6 effort from the free throw line for Thomas.Â
Jalen Bonds had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Myers and Bonds combined for 29 of their team's 43 bench points.
Johnnel Ginnie andÂ
Willie Holloway each added eight points for the Green and White.Â
JaVoris Cooks tallied eight boards and seven of his squad's 14 assists. Ginnie andÂ
Demetrius Rivers each blocked two shots.
The Night Hawks finished 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the floor, including 46.9 percent (15-of-32) in the first 20 minutes to stake to a 10-point edge, 37-27, with 37 seconds remaining before halftime following two Rivers free throws.Â
Each team finished 18-of-24 from the line. The Night Hawks shot 11-of-12 after the break from the free throw line.
Crews' squad outscored the Wildcats in the paint, 38-8, and turned 20 Wildcat turnovers into 21 points. The Night Hawks outrebounded the visitors 37-36, including 12-6 on the offensive glass, leading to 10 second chance points.
Thomas led for the bulk of the first half, which included three dunks - two by Bonds and one from Ginnie - and maintained a 38-32 upper hand at recess.
The Green and White built a seven-point lead 4:06 into the second half courtesy of a Myers layup, but the Wildcats countered with a 9-0 run and grabbed a 46-44 edge. Two ties and three lead changes ensued before the Night Hawks broke a tie at 49 with a 7-0 spurt, finished off with a Rivers layup with 8:30 to play.
Consecutive treys by the Wildcats regained the upper hand for them, 61-60, less than two minutes later, and Johnson & Wales stretched the margin to five at the 2:30 mark.
AÂ
D.J. Roulhac layup on the next trip down the court was followed by a Roulhac steal on the inbounds pass and layup to cut the margin to 67-66 with 2:04 to go, but after each team traded a basket on its next possession, the Wildcats hit a 3-pointer from the corner to earn a two-possession lead at the 1:10 mark. The Night Hawks missed four attempts from deep down the stretch, and Johnson & Wales converted two free throws with 11.2 seconds left for the final margin.
ABOUT KEISER
The Seahawks are coming off an 80-78 win at Coastal Georgia on Thursday in The Sun Conference Men's Basketball Game of the Week.
Deion McClenton led all scorers with 36 points on 15-of-20 shooting and also grabbed 15 rebounds for his 16th double-double. Two other Seahawks finished in double digits withÂ
Micah Goss andÂ
Trystan Pratapas having 12 points apiece.Â
Marko Orlic ended the night with five points and the game-winning layup with 2.2 seconds to go.
With the game tied at 78 with 10 seconds remaining in regulation, the Seahawks turned to Pratapas to take the game-winning shot. After his shot went off the front rim, Orlic collected the rebound for the putback.
Keiser opened the game with a 10-2 advantage at the 15:28 mark behind six points from McClenton. Following a Mariner layup, McClenton threw down a dunk to spark a 6-2 run, extending the lead to double figures for the first time on the evening, 24-13, with 8:55 showing. Coastal Georgia answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to close within seven, but the Seahawks responded with three triples during the next three minutes to widen their margin to 36-24 with 3:30 remaining. Both teams traded baskets down the stretch and Keiser taking a 42-33 lead into halftime.
Keiser opened the second half with a 13-4 run, highlighted by six points from McClenton, pushing the margin to 55-41 with 13:07 to play. The Seahawks maintained the double-digit advantage until the Mariners knocked down a jumper at the 7:40 mark to trail 66-57. The Mariners hit three-consecutive triples to get within 69-66 with 5:05 on the clock. With the Seahawks leading 74-71 at the 2:15 mark, Coastal Georgia converted on a pair of free throws, cutting the deficit to just one point. McClenton scored on the next possession to make it 76-73, but another Mariner 3 tied the contest at 76 with 1:27 remaining. After both teams failed to score on their next possession, Goss converted on a layup with 21 seconds remaining to retake a 78-76 advantage. Coastal Georgia was able to draw a foul with 10 seconds showing, sending the Mariners to the line for two shots which were converted to tie the game at 78.
Keiser ranks second in NAIA Division II in assists per game (20.4) and field goal percentage defense (0.390).
McClenton is second nationally in defensive rebounds per game (9.0), rebounds per game (12.4) and field goal percentage (0.691). Pratapas is second in 3-point field goal percentage (0.561). Sarenac is third in free throw percentage (0.926).
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST THE SEAHAWKS
Thomas lost at then-RV Keiser, 87-82, on Nov. 16 in league play.
Despite limiting Pratapas to just four points on 1-of-4 shooting, Thomas was down 17 with 9:21 to play.
Answering the bell for Crews' squad were Cooks and Ginnie, who combined to score 18 of Thomas' final 24 points. The Night Hawks canned three-straight 3s in 1:21, as a Jerodd Blount trey brought the Green and White within one possession, 85-82, with 15 seconds on the clock. However, after the Night Hawks deflected the ensuing inbounds pass but failed to come up with a steal, Keiser's Andrija Sarenac caught the following inbounds pass, tiptoed the sideline and converted a layup in transition to push the difference back to two possessions.Â
The Seahawks, who trailed only the first 34 seconds Thursday, scored eight-straight points, all by Micah Goss, to lead by six 2:27 into the contest. DeSean Miller made a bucket from distance to make the score 33-24 in favor of the home team at the 7:14 mark of the first half, but Thomas countered. Roulhac scored five-straight Night Hawk points followed by four-straight by Ginnie, as his layup with 3:46 before halftime trimmed the margin to just three at 35-32.
Keiser led 39-33 at the break on the strength of 55.6 percent 15-of-27) shooting, including six made 3-pointers.
Goss scored 13-straight Seahawk points at one point in the second half, giving his team a 54-42 edge with 13:44 to play. A Sarenac 3 pushed the margin to 72-55 4:23 later before Thomas mounted its charge.Â
Goss tallied 20 of his game-high 28 points in the final 20 minutes to lead four Keiser players in double figures. He finished 10-of-12 from the floor, including 6-of-8 from distance. McClenton posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, going 9-of-12 from the field. Sarenac and Orlic each shot 5-of-8 overall. Sarenac netted 13 points and was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc to go along with eight assists, while Orlic had 12 points off the bench. Andrija Matic pulled down eight boards.
Cooks scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half, going 6-of-12 overall in the frame and 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Ginnie poured in 10 of his 18 points after halftime, shooting 7-of-14 from the floor overall and 4-of-5 after the break. Ginnie and Jakari Bush each hauled in eight rebounds. Roulhac ended with 13 points, while Willie Holloway came up with eight. Cooks and Roulhac dished out four assists apiece.Â
The Seahawks shot 61.8 percent (34-of-55) overall, including 67.9 percent (19-of-28) in the final 20 minutes. Keiser was 42.9 percent (12-of-28) from 3-point land and 6-of-14 in each half. The home team totaled 20 assists on 34 made baskets.
The Night Hawks shot 38.4 percent (28-of-73) overall and 36 percent (9-of-25) from deep. Thomas made more free throws (17; 17-of-29) than Keiser attempted (12; 7-of-12). Crews' team turned 18 Seahawk turnovers into 19 points while committing only six. Thomas enjoyed a 15-2 advantage on the offensive glass, with five coming from Ginnie, leading to 13 second chance points.
TIP-INS
- Saturday's game is the 10th in the series but first inside TU Gymnasium without Rollie Massimino on the Keiser bench after he passed away Aug. 30 from lung cancer. Massimino, who coached a total of 41 seasons and led Villanova to the 1985 NCAA title after an upset of top-seed Georgetown, won 481 games at NCAA Division I schools and another 332 at smaller colleges, including 298 in 11 seasons at Keiser.
- Cooks, the leading scorer in program history, has totaled 1,241Â points.
- The Night Hawks are 2-1 against ranked teams this season.
- The Green and White are 4-0Â this season when allowing 66 points or fewer.
- Thomas ranks 21st in NAIA Division II in offensive rebounds per game (12.4), 28th in field goal percentage defense (0.428) and 37th 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 TSC 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.
