ALBANY, GA– The Thomas University Men's basketball team saw a huge, golden opportunity to run away with a win against the Golden Rams Friday night, notching a 91-69 victory over the Blue and Gold.
The Green & Black (7-8, 1-4 SUN) competed against a struggling Rams team which led to several Night Hawks scoring in double digits. The Golden Rams were unable to find the sweet spot of the basket for most of the game and the Night Hawks saw the opportunity to capitalize on minor mistakes by Albany State. Thomas came out of the jump ball firing off shots, with Senior Guard Trint Bryant converting his first few points of the contest with turnovers from the Rams. Thomas was able to convert off of missed opportunities from Albany State in transition, which led to a team overall shooting percentage of 51% from the field.
Senior Guard Toriano Lewis shot 38% from behind the perimeter and 39% from the field for a season high 17 points.The Night Hawks were nearly perfect from the free throw line, shooting a season-high 81% from the charity stripe
Coming from the half time break ASU came out of the locker room powerful which cut the Night Hawks' lead to just 25. The Rams' team leading scoring Junior guard Malik Parker found a late surge coming from the second half, shooting 32% from the field while notching most of his free throws to tally 23 points on the night. Thomas held ASU to just 20% from the arch, which forced the Rams to be aggressive in the paint.
Parker found help from the paint from Junior Center Jordan Simpson, who was able to notch 13 rebounds Even though the Rams were not able to close a huge gap from the Night Hawks, Albany State was able to get three Rams in double digits of scoring which played a role in the team's 43.5% overall shooting from the field. The Night Hawks' defense was just too much for the Rams, as led by Fifth-Year Forward Desean Enzor who impacted the boards for 11 rebounds and 14 points in the contest.
The Night Hawks will have a much needed rest for the holidays as Thomas will start off the new year resuming SUN Conference action with a matchup against the Royals of Warner University on January 6th in Lake Wales, Fla. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30pm.
For up-to-date information on games 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.
