PHILADELPHIA – The Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball team (6-6) shot 62.5% from the field in the second half as they scored 54 points en route for the Rams to earn a non-conference victory over #13/7 nationally ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College (11-2) 97-79 in Thursday afternoon action inside the Gallagher Center.
 
WHAT HAPPENED
The Spartans would get off running early in the game, scoring 10 of the first 13 points as James Patterson hit a layup, his first of game-leading 28 points, alongside Deshawne White and Rich Smith while Jamal Barnes hit a three-pointer. Timkow made a three during that run, with Antonin Kemkeng making a layup, but St. Thomas Aquinas kept their foot on the gas to push their lead 17-5 halfway through the game. Timko made another three, but the Spartans still held a double-digit lead 19-9 halfway through the first
 
The game began to pick up at the backend of the last 10 minutes in the first half, with the Rams outscoring the Spartans 34-19. Bismark Nsiah made a layup while Ahmed Barba-Bey connected from beyond the arc to get within eight points. Timko followed Barba-Bey, making two more three-pointers to get Jefferson back in the game. After Kemkeng made two free throws to cut the lead to 24-22, both teams would start to trade points, with Patterson and Timko hitting threes after each other. Vasilis Tolias made a jumper and Ethan Millirons made a three to get the Spartan lead up to seven. The Rams would outscore St. Thomas 18-6, with Hakim Byrd making a three and Nsiah getting four points in that run. Kemkeng would get a layup while Ashton Miller and Farouk Kaba converted on free throws to get the Rams a 43-38 lead into the break.
 
The second half would see the Spartans trade points with Jefferson, eventually getting within two. Nsiah would score six straight points to push the Rams lead, with Barba-Bey finishing an and-one to have the lead at 57-48. Byrd would have a five-point swing to get the lead into double digits with 11:28 to go in the game. St. Thomas would still keep fighting, with Jamal Barnes hitting a three to cut the lead to nine points, but would have Timko have four points and another Barba-Bey and-one to be up 80-63. The Spartans would only get within 13 points after that point, with Jefferson eventually cruising the rest of the way to a 97-79 victory.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Erik Timko: 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting (5-12 3 PT), 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 rebounds
Bismark Nsiah: 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks
Hakim Byrd: 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting (3-4 3PT), 6 rebounds, 6 assists
Ahmed Barba-Bey: 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting, 5-5 FT, 9 assists, 5 rebounds
Antonin Kemkeng: 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting, 8 rebounds
 
UP NEXT
Jefferson will make a quick turnaround as they welcome Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) opponent Dominican University of New York to the Gallagher Center on Saturday, January 6 at 2 p.m.