January 30, 2008

Thomas' Andrew Duncanson Awarded
Named Maine Rookie of the Week

Waterville, Maine -- Thomas College's Andrew Duncanson (Westbrook, Maine) was named the Maine Rookie of the Week by the Maine Men's Basketball Coaches and Writers Association.

The Portland High School graduate earned the honor by averaging 14 points, 6.7 assists, and 2 steals per contest for the week ending January 26.  In a win over Becker College, Duncanson scored 23 points on 8-12 shooting while dishing out 6 assists.  For the season, Duncanson is averaging over 18 points per game.  This is the third time he has received the award this season.

Thomas Eases Past Unity
Thomas 85, Unity 48

Waterville, Maine -- Freshmen Andrew Duncanson (Westbrook, Maine) and Michael Burchill (Saco, Maine) each scored 17 points and classmate Isaiah Brathwaite (Farmington, Maine) added 15 and six rebounds as the Thomas College men's basketball team cruised to the win at Unity College.

Duncanson also contributed 7 assists and 4 steals for the 7-12 Terriers.  Unity was led by Nate Girard's game-high 20 points.  Thomas raced out to a 28-5 lead in the first five minutes of the game and never looked back. 

Thomas is back in action on Saturday when they host the University of Maine-Presque Isle at 3:00 pm.

January 26, 2008

Thomas Has One Slip Away vs Elms
Thomas 58, Elms 78

Waterville, Maine -- The Thomas College men's basketball team (6-12; 1-7 NAC) was outscored 48-30 by Elms College (11-6; 4-2 NAC) in the second half thanks to the sharpshooting by Elms from beyond the three-point arc (8-13, 61.5% in the second half) on Saturday afternoon. Elms defeated Thomas by the score of 78-58 at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium at Thomas College.

Thomas trailed 30-28 at halftime before Elms went on an 8-0 run to start the second half. Thomas was able to take the lead 41-40 before letting the game slip away late in the second half.

Elms was led by Joe Esile (Milford, Connecticut) with a game-high 19 points. Aswad Thomas (Hartford, Connecticut) and Juan Galdon (Holyoke, Massachusetts) also contributed double-digit scoring efforts for Elms with 14 and 10 points respectively. Thomas also led his team with eight rebounds.

Darrell Alexander (Fairfield, Texas) led Thomas with 18 points and teammates Andrew Duncanson (Westbrook, Maine) and Isaiah Brathwaite (Farmington, Maine) netted 10 apiece. Duncanson dished out nine assists to lead the game. Michael Burchill (Saco, Maine) recorded nine points and eight rebounds. Damien Staples (South China, Maine) blocked four shots to go along with his seven points.

Thomas' next game will be January 29 at Unity College at 7:00 pm.

January 25, 2008

Thomas Earns First Conference Victory
Thomas 88, Becker 83

Waterville, Maine -- The Thomas College men's basketball team (6-11; 1-6 NAC) picked up their first North Atlantic Conference win on Friday night by defeating NAC West leader, Becker College (7-9; 4-2 NAC), by the score of 88-83 at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium.

Thomas held a slim 35-34 lead going into the half with Andrew Duncanson's (Westbrook, Maine) 13 points to lead all scorers in the first half. Thomas was able to stretch the lead into double-digits but Becker brought it down before the final buzzer sounded with a final score of 88-83.

Duncanson finished the game with 23 points to lead Thomas while dishing out six assists. Teammate Isaiah Brathwaite (Farmington, Maine) recorded a double-double with his 20 points and 11 rebounds. Brathwaite also led Thomas with seven assists. Darrell Alexander (Fairfield, Texas) and Michael Burchill (Saco, Maine) netted 13 and 12 points respectively. Burchill also brought down nine boards.

Becker was led by Travis Suber (Springfield, Massachusetts) who dropped a game-high 30 points. Becker's Darren Callahan (Chicopee, Massachusetts), Kevin Miranda (Brockton, Massachusetts), and Trey Jacobs (Lexington Park, Maryland) also recorded double-digit scoring efforts with 15, 14 and 12 respectively. Jacobs also led Becker with five rebounds.

Thomas' next game will be Saturday, January 26, as they will host Elms College in another NAC match-up. The game is set to start at 2:00 pm at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium at Thomas College.

January 22, 2008

Thomas Falls in NAC Contest with MMA
Thomas 49, MMA 60

Waterville, Maine -- The Thomas College men's basketball team (5-11) found themselves on the short end of a defensive struggle on Tuesday night to North Atlantic Conference opponent Maine Maritime Academy (7-7) by the score of 60-49 at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium.

MMA had a slight lead going into halftime by the score of 33-29, but pulled away in the second half to secure the victory. MMA was led by Derek DiFrederico (Millinocket, Maine) with 19 points, 12 in the first half, while shooting 4-5 from three. Teammate Neil Stewart (Rangeley, Maine) recorded a double-double with his 16 points and 10 rebounds. Adam Haskell (Winslow, Maine) contributed 10 points.

A pour shooting performance in the second half by Thomas did not help their cause in making a comeback. They shot only 23% from the floor in the second half and 32% on the game. A bright spot from the Thomas offense was Michael Burchill's (Saco, Maine) 17 point effort, 12 of which came in the first half. Andrew Duncanson (Westbrook, Maine) dropped nine points to go along with five assists.

Thomas' next game will be on Friday, January 25, at 6:00 pm at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium. They will host another NAC contest against Becker College.

January 19, 2008

Thomas Men's Basketball Falls in NAC Contest
Thomas 67, Castleton 92

Castleton, Vermont -- Josh Howe scored a game-high 25 points and hauled in seven rebounds to lead Castleton State College to a 92-67 win over Thomas College in North Atlantic Conference men's basketball action.

January 18, 2008

Thomas Men's Basketball Falls in NAC Contest
Thomas 67, Castleton 92

Castleton, Vermont -- Josh Howe scored a game-high 25 points and hauled in seven rebounds to lead Castleton State College to a 92-67 win over Thomas College in North Atlantic Conference men's basketball action.

The Spartans raced out to a 45-33 halftime lead thanks in large part to a 7-13 shooting performance from beyond the three-point stripe.

Terrier, Michael Burchill scored a team-high 16 points off the bench to help keep Thomas within striking distance, but in the end it was too much Howe, and too much Castleton offense.

The Spartan offense entered the nigh ranked 10th in the nation in scoring proficiency at 86.2 per game. Kevin Cayea joined Howe atop the Spartan leader board with 24 points of his own. Richard Reilly and Chris Young narrowly missed out on double-double performances. Reilly canned 14 points and dished out nine assists, while Young hauled in 13 rebounds and scored nine points.

Joining Burchill in double-figures for the 5-9 (0-4 NAC) Terriers were Andrew Duncanson with 13 and Isaiah Brathwaite and Darrell Alexander each with 10.

Castleton wins for the seventh time in its last eight games to improve to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in conference action. Both teams return to NAC play Saturday afternoon with the Spartans hosting U. Maine-Farmington and Thomas traveling to Johnson State. Both games are slated for a 2:00 pm tip-off.

January 13, 2008

Thomas Victorious vs UMA
Thomas 83, UMA 72

Waterville, Maine -- The Thomas College men's basketball team improved their record to 5-8 on Sunday afternoon by defeating the University of Maine at Augusta by the score of 83-72 at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium.

A close game throughout, which was a 42-38 Thomas lead at halftime, ended in a Thomas advantage and a win as the result. Andrew Duncanson paced the Terrier offense with his game-high of 29 points to go along with ten assists and nine rebounds on way to a double-double performance. For the second game in a row, Thomas recorded 11 3-pointers, three of which were accounted for by Duncanson. Duncanson also shot 10-12 from the line to contribute to Thomas' 80% day for free throws. Michael Burchill dropped 20 points and Isaiah Brathwaite also contributed a double-double for Thomas with his 19 points and ten rebounds.

Bright spots for UMA in a losing effort was a third and fourth double-double performance in the contest by UMA's Deon Cheers and Andrew Rogers. Cheers scored 24 points and grabbed 14 boards to lead the game and Rogers scored 17 points and also recorded 12 rebounds. Cheers also led UMA with nine assists.

Thomas' next game will be on January 18, 2008, at Castleton State College as part of a weekend trip to Vermont for the Terriers in North Atlantic Conference action. The game is set to start at 6:00 pm.

January 12, 2008

Thomas Falls in Shootout with Husson
Thomas 77, Husson 92

Waterville, Maine -- The Thomas College (4-8) men's basketball team lost to Husson College (5-5) by the score of 92-77 at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Husson was led by Scott Kissinger who dropped 19 points while shooting an impressive 5-6 from 3-point range. Teammates Brock Bradford and Nicholas Henry posted 14 and 12 points respectively. Husson as a team shot 12-23 from 3-point on way to victory. Bradford also recorded a game high of eight assists.

In a losing effort, Thomas' Darrell Alexander was 4-4 for 3-pointers on way to his game high of 27 points. Teammate Isaiah Brathwaite was also successful from beyond the arc by knocking down six 3-pointers. Andrew Duncanson scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Thomas' outstanding shooting from beyond the arc (73%) was not enough to mount a comeback late in the contest. Duncanson led Thomas with four assists.

Thomas' next game will be on January 13, 2008, against the University of Maine at Augusta at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium at 2:00 pm.

January 8, 2008

Thomas Men's Basketball Fall to Bowdoin
Thomas 58, Bowdoin 68

Brunswick, Maine -- Bowdoin College senior tri-captain Andrew Sargeantson tied his career high with 27 points as the Polar Bear men's basketball team held off a late rally from Thomas on Tuesday, 68-58. The Polar Bears are 10-2 this season while the Terriers drop to 4-7.

Sargeantson connected on his first ten shots of the game- all from in
the paint- as Bowdoin dominated the opening half. The Polar Bears jumped out to a 17-5 lead after eight minutes of play and closed the opening half on a 12-0 run to take a 36-19 edge at intermission.

The hosts extended their advantage to 20 points early in the second half on a Kyle Jackson trifecta before Thomas began chipping away at the lead. Down 15 points with ten minutes remaining, the Terriers outscored Bowdoin 12-4 over the next six minutes, with a Michael Burchill three-pointer bringing Thomas within seven points, 62-55, with 3:30 to go. Another three-pointer by Darrell Alexander cut the Bowdoin lead to just four points, 62-58, with three minutes to go.

On the ensuing possession, Bowdoin's Mike Hauser hit a pair of
free-throws to extend the lead to six points and went 6-6 from the
charity stripe in the closing moments to seal the win.

Sargeantson's 27 points equaled his career-high also set against Thomas two years ago. He grabbed 10 rebounds and shot 13-15 from the field for the evening. Kyle Jackson dropped in 10 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for Bowdoin while Mark Phillips also saw double-digits with 10 and eight boards.Thomas had four players in double figures, led by 19 from Isaiah Brathwaite, who connected for five three-pointers. Andrew Duncanson had 14, while Alexander (13) and Burchill (12) also saw double-figures.