THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Night Hawks will look to erase the sting of being swept in consecutive seasons Thursday night, as Thomas takes on The Sun Conference opponent Ave Maria.
 
The Hunter Green & White (2-7, 2-1 TSC) has faced a slew of strong opponents to start its 2020-21 season, and their last outing in Faulkner's Battle at the Beach was no exception.  Despite going 0-3 in Montgomery, Ala., the play of Junior Guard Jordan Booker and Junior Forward Shamar Brown did not go unnoticed, as both were named to Battle at the Beach's All-Tournament team.  Booker comes off three straight, six-steal games that only continue to isolate himself from the rest of the country as NAIA's Steals leader.  The Powder Springs, Ga. native continues to be a threat at the national level, as Booker also has the second most assists in NAIA (48).  Meanwhile, Brown finished last weekend averaging 13.3 Points, shooting 53% from the field.
 
Ave Maria (4-4, 2-1 TSC) fell from the ranks of conference perfection Monday night as the Gyrenes fell 82-80 at home to Webber International.  AMU will look to the scoring talents of Eric Klekas and Matt Gillis to keep the team above .500, as both players average 19.6 and 13.6 Points, respectively.  Gillis is second in TSC in shooting percentage (.558) while Klekas holds the conference's eighth-best mark (.491).
 
For the Night Hawks to continue its TSC-win streak, one area they will look to capitalize is 3-Point shooting.  Ave Maria's 39.3% 3-Pt. Defense could give Thomas an edge, as the Night Hawks boasts TSC's fourth-best long-range percentage (.338).
 
TU will also need to plan for Ave Maria's aggressive rebound game; while the Gyrenes average nearly 40 Boards a Game, 12.4 of their average are from the team's Offensive Boards, the second most in TSC.
 
While the Night Hawks have the conference's third best Free Throw Percentage (70.4%), chances at the charity strip will be at a premium Thursday night, as the Gyrenes have only averaged 17.1 Fouls a Game.
 
The Gyrenes have swept Thomas the past two seasons and currently holds a four-game win streak over TU.
 
Tipoff at TU Gymnasium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.  Links to follow the game can be found below:
 
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For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of your TU men's basketball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksMBKB.