(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - Junior center Colt Stafford (Groveport, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) scored a career-high-tying 17 points to lead the Thomas More College men's basketball team to a 65-44 win over Grove City College tonight (Wednesday, December 1, 2010) in both teams' Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opener at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.

With the win, the Saints improve to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the PAC.  With the loss, the Wolverines fall to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the PAC.

Thomas More raced out to a 30-8 lead with 5:06 to play in the first half when senior shooting guard Aaron Miller (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) made a lay-up.  Grove City responded with a 9-5 to cut the lead to 35-17 with 1:19 to play in the first half when Ryan Fisher made one-of-two free-throws.  Junior center Clay Naiser (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) made a lay-up with eight-seconds to play in the half to increase the Saints' lead to 37-17 at halftime.

The Saints opened the second half on a 9-5 run capped by a three-pointer by junior point guard Daniel Whelan (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) with 14:55 to play in the game to extend the lead to 46-22.  Grove City answered with an 11-4 run to cut the lead to 50-33 when Mike Grist made a three-pointer with 6:32 to play in the game.  Thomas More would close-out the game on a 15-11 run to earn the 65-44 victory.

Joining Stafford in double-digits was Miller with 15 points.  Miller led the team on the boards with a game-high seven rebounds and in steals with three, while freshman point guard Spencer Berlekamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Kings) led the team in assists with five.

Thomas More is idle until next Saturday (December 11) when it hosts Westminster College at 3 p.m. at the Connor Convocation Center.