GREENVILLE, Pa. (Jan. 14) -- For the 2nd time in the last 4 games, the Thiel College Men's Basketball team was downed on a buzzer-beater, this time at the hands of Geneva College, 63-61, Wednesday evening on Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) North Division action.
The Tomcats dip to 4-9 (1-4) while the Golden Tornadoes rise to 7-7 (4-1). The contest featured 11 ties and five lead changes.
Trailing 61-59,
Anthony Henderson II (Miramar, Fla./Somerset Academy) canned a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left to knot things at 61. Geneva came down the court as head coach Jeff Santarsiero opted not to take a timeout. The Tomcats committed their fourth team foul with 6 seconds remaining, forcing a Geneva sideline inbounds. The visitors inbounded the ball to Jonathan Bertovich who knifed through the lane and connected on a layup with 2.3 ticks remaining. Thiel's desperation inbounds was unsuccessful, spelling the 61-59 final.
Henderson II finished with 10 points, three boards and contest-high-tying three helpers.
In a matchup akin to an old-school 1980s Big East clash, the contest was dominate in the paint with Geneva holding a slight 38-36 paint-scoring edge. Neither side led by more than 6 points in the second half. A
Khamari Accursio-Harris (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) jumper along with a pair of free throws gave the Tomcats a 37-33 edge with 16:12 remaining.
Accursio-Harris posted a career-and-team-high 20 points on 8-of-13 from the field and 2-of-2 each from deep and at the charity stripe. He snagged four rebounds and dished out one assist.
The Golden Tornadoes responded with 10-of-12 to lead 43-39 before 4 quick Tomcat points along with a
Kadenne Kemp (Inglewood, Cali./Northgate (Pa.)) jumper knotted things at 45 with 10:43 remaining.
Kemp recorded his second collegiate double-double with 14 points on 7-of-16 to go with a game-most 10 boards.
The two sides traded buckets back and forth before a 6-0 Thiel run started at the 7:01 mark and put the home side ahead 57-52 with 4:01 remaining. A 4-point play along with a 3-ball from the visitors with a
Das Sanders (Dallas, Texas/Fort Worth Christian) layup sandwiched between them drew the score to 59-all with 2:44 left.
Sanders added 8 points on 3-of-8 to go with three boards and a contest-high-tying two steals.
Thiel jumped ahead 10-3 in the opening 4 minutes of the game as Accursio-Harris had a pair of threes and Sanders connected on two layups. The Tomcats led by as many as 8 in the first 20 minutes and 20-12 on an Accursio-Harris basket. Kemp had a driving layup with 8 ticks showing on the clock to give Thiel a 29-25 halftime lead.
Thiel held a 21-13 edge in bench scoring as well as advantages in second-chance points (14-6) and fast-break points (12-4).
The Tomcats are back in action Saturday at 3 p.m. for a PAC interdivisional clash at Bethany on the PAC Sports Network.
