CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. – The Thiel Tomcats were knocked out of the 2013 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament Thursday, losing 86-80 in the semifinals to the second-seeded Thomas More Saints.
 
Thomas More jumped out to an 11-6 lead after five minutes of play, but the Tomcats responded with a 14-0 run to take a 20-11 lead near the midpoint of the first half. Ladell Trotty (Cleveland, Ohio/Lutheran East) and Chace McKinney (Boardman, Ohio/Kennedy Catholic) jumpstarted the run with three-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor. The Tomcats continued to lead by nine points at the half, 39-30, after Eric Mallinger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) scored on a tip-in 17 seconds before the buzzer.
 
The Saints opened the second half with a 16-7 run to force the third tie of the game, 46-46, with 15:30 remaining in regulation. Thomas More never trailed Thiel after Brandon Housley hit a free throw to give his team a 55-54 lead with 12:23 left in the second half. The Saints led by as many as 13 points down the stretch.
 
McKinney led the Tomcats with a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds while Anthony Harvey (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) scored 17 points. Trotty led the Tomcats on the board with eight rebounds. He also scored eight points.
 
D'Carlo Hayes and Brandon Housley led the Saints with 23 and 22 points, respectively. Housley also led the Saints with eight rebounds. Ross Renken and Chris Richard chipped in with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
 
The Tomcats concluded the 2012-13 season with a record of 14-10 overall and 10-6 in the PAC.