COLUMBIA, Ky. – The Lindsey Wilson men's basketball team fell short to No. 2-ranked Thomas More University (Ky.) in a conference battle at Bigger Sports Center on Saturday, 78-72. A second half breakdown by the Blue Raiders allowed the Saints to pull away from any upset chances for LWC.

In a hard fought battle with the Saints, Lindsey Wilson received some production from its bench who outscored the Thomas More reserves 33-7. Jamie Strong led all Blue Raiders in scoring with 15 points while shooting 5-8 from beyond the arc. Strong's performance was followed by 14 from Conner Robinson and 13 from Elijah Jordan who led the team in assists with seven respectively.

Thomas More jumped ahead early on the Blue Raiders and kept them scoreless for awhile until Robinson got going with back to back triples to trim the margin with under five minutes played. The Saints regained momentum with their patient offensive pace and solid defense on the other end that led to a 7-0 run to give them a 14-6 edge.

Lindsey WIlson went on a 10-0 run to take its first lead by one after Strong knocked down his first three attempts from deep off the bench around the 12 minute mark. From that point on it became a back and forth contest from both teams. Strong gave the Blue Raiders its biggest lead just before halftime with another triple to go up by three. The Saints responded quickly and cut the Lindsey Wilson lead to 33-32 to close out the half.

LWC started the second half in the right direction by extending its lead to five after a small run. Thomas More did not let the Blue Raiders get too comfortable and bounced back with a 6-0 run of their own to put themselves ahead 38-37. Just as things started to look competitive and promising for LWC after taking a 43-42 lead at the 15:42 mark, the Saints thought otherwise.

The Saints offense then exploded for a 25-6 run to open the game up which ultimately proved to be too much for Lindsey Wilson to come back from. The Blue Raiders did make a late comeback effort but ran out of time as Thomas More finished out LWC. Four players ended in double figures for the Saints and they also had a 38-24 advantage in the paint over Lindsey WIlson.

The Blue Raiders will hit the road to take on No. 19 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) on January 12 in Henderson, Tennessee at 7:30 p.m. CT.