SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Thomas (5-4, 1-2 SSAC) broke their two-game skid against NAIA newcomer Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers (3-7, 0-0 CON) on Tuesday night.
The Night Hawks jumped out to a fast start, beginning with a 19-7 run to open the game, The Pioneers managed to bring the lead back down to single digits before Jalin Lee caught fire with a layup and back-to-back three pointers to up by 12 with 9:09 to go in half. The teams traded misses until
Jordan Howe made his way to the charity stripe twice going 4-4 and
Ja'Vian Baker added in a layup and a three pointer to extend the lead to 18.
Tyson Anderson got in on the scoring as well as he added a three and a tough mid-range jumper along with setting up Baker for another three and a fast break dunk.
The offensive barrage continued as
Andre Lightbourne knocked down a pair of threes to put Thomas up by 20 in the closing seconds of the half. With 3.8 seconds to go, Josh Robertson took the inbound from Lightbourne and buried a fadeway three to send the Night Hawks into the locker room.
In the second half, Spartanburg Methodist refused to go away, ripping off a 16-5 run to bring the lead down to 12. The momentum continued as a steal by the Pioneers sparked another run to bring the lead into single digits. Lee fired back at the line, knocking a couple down before a Spartanburg three brought it down to six with 10:24 left in the game. Baker tipped-in a miss to maintain the Night Hawk lead, however, the Pioneers brought it back to within four just under the nine-minute mark. In desperate need for a bucket, Howe forced a foul to head to the line to drain both shots before making his way through a host of defenders to make tough layup to go back up by six. Robertson got back involved, making his way to the stripe knocking down both shots. The efforts from both of them started a huge 15-6 run for Thomas, extending the lead to 13. The Night Hawks kept the lead at double digit for the rest of the game as they closed out a 104-93 win.
Head Coach
Colin Cotter on the victory: We're always happy to get a win, cause winning any college basketball game is tough to do! The first half was one of our best half's all year. We shot the ball really well and competed on the defensive end! We lacked a little energy to start the 2nd half and got away from what brought us success in the first half allowed them to cut down our big lead. I was proud of the guys for fighting through the adversity and going on another run to close the game!
In his return Lee finished with 25 points, going 3-5 from deep, in 24 minutes off the bench. Baker finished with a season high 21 points, three boards and an assist. Anderson put 17 points, along with seven rebounds, three assists and a couple steals.
As a team the Night Hawks shot 38 percent from deep and won the rebound battle 45-43, they also forced 12 turnovers with seven of those being steals.
Thomas will not have long to rest as they tee it up with Morris College in a rematch from the season opener tomorrow night, December 3rd at 6:00 p.m.
