THOMASVILLE, Ga. - Thomas continues its Sun Conference (TSC) road swing Saturday at Florida Memorial at 4 p.m. ET.
In addition to live stats, the contest will be televised online through Stretch Internet. Updates will also be available on Thomas' official men's basketball Twitter account (@NightHawksMBKB).
Game 21/Thomas (9-11, 4-8 TSC) at Florida Memorial (11-7, 5-6 TSC)
Saturday, Jan. 27 • 4 p.m. ET
Miami Gardens, Fla. • FMU Wellness Center
TV:Â Stretch Internet
Live Stats:Â Stretch Internet
Twitter Updates:Â @NightHawksMBKB
Series History:Â Thomas leads 6-3 (Thomas won last two)
Record at Thomas:Â 4-1
Record at Florida Memorial:Â 2-2
Record at Neutral Site:Â 0-0
Coach Brent Crews vs. Florida Memorial: 3-2
ABOUT THOMAS
The Night Hawks are coming off an 87-81 TSC loss at No. 10 Saint Thomas (Fla.) on Thursday.
Katrell Myers scored a season-high 23 points, Saint Thomas rallied from an 11-point, second-half deficit. The Bobcats won their eighth-straight game, while the Night Hawks fell to 2-3 against Top 25 opponents.
Myers was 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from deep. He was 8-of-10 from the stripe in the first half, as the team went 10-of-15 in a period in which Thomas (9-11, 4-8 TSC) shot 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from the floor and 50 percent (5-of-10) from deep to assume a 41-38 edge at the break.
Myers also grabbed six rebounds and recorded three of his team's seven steals. He has averaged 17.5 points in the last four contests.
Johnnel Ginnie netted 16 points, going 6-of-9 from the field, and eight rebounds.Â
JaVoris Cooks andÂ
Jalen Bonds each had 10 points. Cooks also had seven boards, Myers and Bonds combined for 33 of the team's 47 bench points.Â
Javon Heastie dished out five assists, as the Night Hawks totaled 18 on 29 made baskets.
The Green and White shot 47.5 percent (29-of-61) and 15-of-22 from the charity stripe Thursday and dominated points in the paint (42-28).
Thomas used a 12-0 run in the second half to turn a one-point deficit into its largest lead of the night, 53-42, at the 13:56 mark following two Heastie free throws.Â
D.J. Roulhac scored all six of his points on layups during the spurt, but Saint Thomas shot 60 percent (15-of-25) from the floor, 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from 3 and 14-of-23 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes to complete the comeback, taking the lead for good with 6:59 to play.
The first 20 minutes featured seven lead changes. The Night Hawks' largest lead of the period came following a 9-0 run, with the first seven scored by Ginnie, to make the score 38-29 at the 1:26 mark after two Myers free throws.
ABOUT FLORIDA MEMORIAL
The Lions are coming off a 77-67 TSC win at home over Coastal Georgia on Thursday.
Florida Memorial carried a 34-27 advantage into intermission.
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In the second half, the Lions led by as much as 15 points.
Florida Memorial shot 35.3 percent for the game 32.1 percent from the 3-point line.
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Omar Outar led the Lions with 19 points. Davon Williams poured in 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, whileÂ
Travis Mitchell contributed 10 points.
Florida Memorial ranks sixth in NAIA Division II in turnover margin (4.5), seventh in offensive rebounds per game (13.8), 14th in scoring defense per game (70.5) and 16th in steals per game (8.6).
Roody Romain is 26th nationally in blocks per game (1.4). Mitchell is 33rd in steals per game (1.9).
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST THE LIONS
Thomas defeated Florida Memorial, 60-58, on Nov. 30 inside TU Gymnasium in league play.
Keion Peoples poured in 17 points off the bench for a second-consecutive game.
The Night Hawks used an 11-0 run to take a 16-4 lead midway through the first half following a Roulhac layup. A Eugene Harvey jumper at the 6:54 mark brought the Lions within a basket at 19-17. Thomas stretched its advantage back to nine with 2:56 left before halftime, but a Williams trey trimmed the Night Hawks' edge at the break to 31-30.
Two Willie Holloway two-handed, alley-oop dunks in the first 3:30 of the second half helped maintain Thomas' edge until the Lions used a 6-0 spurt in less than three minutes to grab a 41-36 lead with 13:50 to play.Â
With his team trailing by six at the 11:37 mark, Peoples scored four of the Night Hawks next six points to knot the contest at 45. Following two ties, Cooks canned a 3 from the corner to put the Green and White ahead 52-49 with 5:02 to go. A Williams layup two minutes later put his team back in front, 55-54, but five-straight points by Peoples, starting with two made free throws at the 1:40 mark, helped seal the Night Hawks' third-straight win at home.
Peoples finished 5-of-10 shooting and 7-of-9 from the line.
Holloway and Ginnie each added eight points. Cooks and Bonds each tallied seven points.
Ginnie pulled down eight boards, while Holloway had seven. Peoples, Johnson and Jakari Bush each dished out three assists.
Williams ended with 23 points off the bench on 10-of-16 shooting, including a 3-of-5 effort from deep, to go along with six rebounds. Mitchell had 17 points, with four of his five made baskets coming from behind the arc, in the loss.Â
Thomas shot 42 percent (21-of-50) from the floor and converted more free throws (15) than Florida Memorial attempted (12). The Night Hawks outscored the visitors in the paint, 34-22.
Florida Memorial shot 39 percent (23-of-59) overall.
Each team had 39 rebounds.Â
TIP-INS
- Cooks, the leading scorer in program history, has totaled 1,266Â 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 (12.5), 41st in field goal percentage defense (0.437), 45th in scoring defense per game (75.4) and 49th in rebounds per game (38.1).
- Cooks ranks 11th in the country in 3-point field goals made per game (3.2). Holloway is 41st in blocks per game (1.2).
- 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. 10 Saint Thomas, No. 19 Keiser and No. 23 Warner (Fla.) - and one that is receiving votes - Southeastern - 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 and to them Jan. 20, to the Bobcats on Dec. 2 and at them Thursday, 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.
