St. Thomas More Captures Title
FORT MONMOUTH, N.J. -- St. Thomas More jumped out to a double digit half-time lead, and withstood some late game struggles from the free throw line to emerge with an 85-78 victory over Air Force Prep on Saturday afternoon at the 5th Annual Army Prep Invitational.
The Chancellors' knocked off the defending champions of the Army Prep Invitational by building a 45-31 half-time lead, and then extending the advantage to as high as 16 points midway through the second half.
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Air Force Prep was able to slice the deficit to single digits on several occasions in the second half, but got no closer than six points in the game's final minute.
Some shoddy free throw shooting by St. Thomas More kept the Huskies in the hunt in the second half. Air Force's Finlay Brashears hit three free throws with :16 remaining to pull the Huskies to within 84-78.
However, it was a case of too little, too late. The Chancellors converted just 14 of 23 free throw attempts in the second half, allowing the gritty Air Force squad to keep it close.
Kevin Reed led St. Thomas More with 16 points, and senior guard David Williams tallied 14 points (including 6/10 FTs late in the game) to spur the Chancellor attack. Forwards John Zito (13 points) and Aaron Johnson (12 points) also hit double figures for STM.
Ryan Mort, a 6-0 shooting guard from Ozark, Ark., connected on four first half three pointers and led all scorers with 18 points. Brashears enjoyed a strong second half, scoring all 16 of his points in the second half as the Huskies' comeback fell short.