PHILADELPHIA – The Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball team (14-11, 10-5 CACC) bounced back with a 78-59 win against Georgian Court (11-14, 7-8 CACC) on Tuesday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams were tied at eight with 14:52 left in the first half. The Rams went on an 18-6 run to take a 26-14 lead at the 6:09 mark. Jason Shields led the way with seven points. The Lions scored six in a row to close the gap to six (26-20) but Jefferson ended the period with a 12-3 stretch to take a 15-point advantage (38-23) into the locker room.
 
GCU was within 13 (42-29) with 17:24 to go in the second half. The Rams had a 7-1 stretch to up the difference to 19 (49-30) at the 14:43 mark. The Lions had their last rally attempt with a 12-5 run to cut the deficit to 12 (54-42) with 11:00 remaining. However, it was the closest they would come with Jefferson outscoring GCU, 24-17 the rest of the way.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Erik Timko: 29 points on 10-of-12 shooting, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
Jason Shields: 16 points with five three-pointers, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Ahmed Barba-Bey: 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Hakim Byrd: 10 points, 5 assists, 1 steal
 
JEFFERSON AS A TEAM
FG: 24-of-46 (52.2%)
3PT: 10-of-25 (40.0%)
FT: 20-of-26 (76.9%)
 
NOTES
- Erik Timko scored 20-plus for the third straight game.
- Jason Shields's five three-pointers is a season high.
- The Rams improved to 7-0 at home this year.
 
CACC PLAYOFF PICTURE
Jefferson has a two-game lead for first place in the South Division with two games left in the regular season. The Rams have secured a home game for the quarterfinals on February 28^th. Jefferson can clinch the South Division's top seed with a Goldey-Beacom loss versus Chestnut Hill on Saturday or a victory against the Lightning next week.
 
UP NEXT
The Rams host Goldey-Beacom on Wednesday, February 22^nd at 8 p.m.