Thomas More Athletics
Skylar Shaffer

CRESTVIEW HILLS – The men’s basketball program at Thomas More defeated Bethel on Saturday to secure their first ever Mid-South Conference regular season title after losses by Georgetown and Tennessee Southern.

Men’s basketball were projected to finish second in the conference in the preseason poll and were the 23rd ranked team nationally following their second consecutive National Tournament bid.

After winning 10 of their first 11 games of the 2021-22, campaign the Saints jumped all the way up to 13 in the NAIA top-25 Coaches’ Poll for their highest ranking in program history.

Thomas More currently sits at 23-3 overall and 17-2 in MSC play and as the number eight team in the nation. The Saints were ranked as high as seventh place this year, a new program record.

The Mid-South Conference title is the first for Thomas More men’s basketball since joining the NAIA and is the fourth total conference championship in history for men’s basketball. The regular season title also means that Thomas More men’s basketball earned an automatic qualifying bid for the National Tournament.

The Saints are led by junior forward Ryan Batte who is currently averaging 21.6 points per game to rank 14th in the NAIA. Graduate guard Luke Rudy is one of the top sharpshooters in the country, ranking fourth in three-pointers made with 85 on the season.

The team as a whole ranks second in personal fouls with 12 per, fourth in field goal percentage with 51.1%, sixth in turnovers per game with 9.5, 11th in free throw percentage at 75.9%, 13th in rebound margin per game with 9.4, and 23rd in points per game allowed by only allowing 68.6 points per game.

Men’s basketball will look to improve on their 17-2 conference record when they play host to Georgetown for their 21-22 home finale on Thursday, February 17 at 8 p.m. ET.