Lions' men's basketball team drops 72-63 decision at Thomas More College

The College of Mount St. Joseph led by four points at the half, and by seven points early in the second half, but gave up the lead with 6:58 remaining in the game to fall tonight at cross-river rival Thomas More College, 72-63. The Lions slip to 1-3 on the season and will return to action on Nov. 27 when they host Spalding University.

Alex Cole (Fairfield, OH/Ross) hit a three-point field goal for the Lions with 7:48 left in the first half, giving his team a 30-13 lead but the Mount went cold from the floor and allowed Thomas More to run off a 16-0 scoring spree to close within a point with 2:21 left in the half. The Lions, however, would go on to lead by a 37-34 margin at intermission, thanks to eight points from Ben Haarman (Cincinnati, OH/St. Bernard) and seven points from Cole.

Cole's free throw gave the Lions a 40-33 lead just into the second half but the two teams battled for the lead throughout the early part of the second half, forcing three ties between them, the last at 7:20 to play at 55-all. Thomas More would then go on a 9-0 run, thanks to free throws and the play of Brian Muse, to lead 64-55 with 3:40 left in the game. Cole's three-pointer with 34 seconds left would account for the remaining margin. THomas More's inside play was particularly effective in the second half, accounting for 22 points in the paint to the Lions' 10 inside points.

Haarman finished with 17 points while Cole chipped in 16 points. John Valerius (Hamilton, OH/Hamilton Badin) grabbed nine rebounds.