MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Thomas University Men's basketball team appeared to be on track to break a skid to St. Thomas with a 40-37 lead at the half, but the Night Hawks were plagued by another opponent early scoring run within the first minutes of the half, en route to an 84-68 setback to the Bobcats Saturday evening at the Fernandez Family Center.
 
TU (6-8, 1-4 SUN) ended the day shooting 42.9% as a team and shooting over 34% outside the perimeter.  The Green & White became the first team this season to out block the SUN Conference's team leader, limiting the Bobcats (4-5, 2-3 SUN) to two (2) blocks while the Night Hawks picked up three (3).
 
Senior Guard Tim Williamson led TU in scoring, picking up 15 points and four boards while shooting 5-for-16 (.313) from the floor and 80% from the charity stripe.  Senior Guard Trint Bryant finished the contest with 14 points with a 75% conversion rate from the field as well as tallying four boards and first block of the season.
 
The first half of action proved to have thrilling implications, as both sides were deadlocked the first STU put together its first, critical scoring run (11-1) that nearly lasted two and a half minutes 11 minutes of action.  After a go-ahead layup from Bryant gave a TU a 21-19 lead with 8:30 in the half, that saw Bobcats' Jahsim Floyd end the span with a dunk and an eight-point St. Thomas lead. 
 
On the ensuing possession, Williamson hit a trey that cut the Night Hawks' deficit to five (30-25) at the 5:27 mark that started an 18-7 TU run to end the half with the Night Hawks leading 40-37.
 
St. Thomas quickly turned the momentum around to begin the second half, scoring the first eight points to take a 45-40 lead in the first minute and 34 seconds of the half.  The Night Hawks would follow the scoring run to keep a one to two possession deficit pace to the Bobcats for the next few minutes that led to Senior Forward Shakari Williams converting free throws to pull the contest to three points in favor of STU, 49-46.
 
Before Thomas could completely close the gap, St. Thomas spent 3:45 going on a 12-3 scoring run that saw the Bobcats push its lead to 61-49.  The Night Hawks would not allow the sizeable lead to last long, as the Green & White responded with their own scoring run (11-2) to ultimately put the scoring difference back to three points at 63-60 with 9:11 left in the contest.
 
With the Night Hawks on the cusp of tying the game again, the Bobcats put another scoring run (13-4) in motion, highlighted by STU's Dwayne Russell's buckets in the paint, giving the Bobcats a 76-64 lead with 3:26 left.
 
After a Williamson layup cut TU's deficit to 10, the defense forced a turnover to start a scoring push, but a missed 3-pointer on the next possession was rebounded by STU, drawing a Thomas foul that would begin a string of free throws to close out and secure an 84-68 win for St. Thomas.
 
TU by the Numbers
3:        Players scoring double-digits
9:        Team 3-Pointers made
16:      Forced turnovers
40:      First-half points scored
 
Thomas is back in action Saturday to host RV Faulkner to complete its regular-season series with the Eagles.  Tipoff at TU Gymnasium is slated for 2 p.m.