Hattiesburg, MS | The Thomas University men's basketball team (2-5, 1-2) would fall to William Carey University (4-2, 1-0) in the final seconds of a hard fought battle on Saturday afternoon.

In the first three minutes of play, William Carey would go on a 10-2 run to take an early lead in the contest. Then, with 16 minutes remaining in the first half, the Night Hawks would come storming back. Thomas would go on a 9-0 run of their own, courtesy of a jumper and pair of free throws from the hands of Jarvis Brown, a Keon Williams three, and a layup from Deonta Jones. This run would give the Night Hawks their first lead of the contest, 11-10, with 14 minutes remaining in the first half of play. The Crusaders would quickly find their offensive rhythm again, and lead 33-24 with just under six minutes remaining in the first half, when Tyson Anderson would respond by drilling a three to decrease this deficit to six. Willam Carey refused to be denied though, and would close out the half with a 47-36 lead. 

Jarvis Brown would have a dominant first half of play to lead all Night Hawks with 14 points. Keon Williams would shoot 3-5 from the three point line to add 9 points, of his own. Deonta Jones would lead Thomas in the assist category with five. As a team, Thomas would shoot 38% from the field and 40% from three in the first half.

To begin the second half, Andre Lightbourne would connect on two quick three pointers to cut the Crusaders' lead to 51-42. With 13 minutes left in the second half, Thomas' defensive effort would hold William Carey scoreless for five minutes. After a layup and trio of made free throws from Jarvis Brown, and layup from Devin Baney, the Night Hawks would decrease the Crusaders' lead to 53-55. William Carey would steadily increase their lead from there, until Andre Lightbourne hit a crucial 3-pointer to decrease the deficit to 2 once more with four minutes remaining in the contest. Then, a Jarvis Brown 3-pointer would give Thomas their first lead, 72-71, since the 14th minute of the first half. With three minutes remaining in the contest, Thomas would continue to apply pressure on the Crusader defense. A Tyson Anderson three, followed by a Noah Lattin put-back on the next possession would give Thomas a 77-75 lead and momentum heading into the final minute of play. However, William Carey would quickly even the score at 77 a piece with a layup of their own. Thomas would then have an opportunity to regain the lead, but would unfortunately fail to connect with a basket. With a tied score and 4 seconds remaining on the clock, the Crusaders would seal the game with two made shots from the charity stripe. Despite a great comeback effort, the Night Hawks would fall short to William Carey by a score of 79-77.   

In the contest, three Night Hawks would see double-digit scoring. Jarvis Brown would lead the Night Hawks with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. Andre Lightbourne would shoot 67% from three to add 12 points, while also leading the team in steals with 3. Tyson Anderson would shoot 50% from three and provide 10 points for Thomas. Guard Deonta Jones would lead the Night Hawks in rebounds (10) and assists (8), while scoring 6 points of his own. As a team, Thomas would shoot 43% from the field and 44% from behind the arc, in the contest.

NEXT UP: The Night Hawks will be back in action on November, 28th to take on Warner University. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM in Lake Wales, FL.

 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