MIDWAY, Ky. - The size of St. Mary of the Woods (Ind.) was too much for Midway to overcome, as the Pomeroys gutted out a 78-72 win in a River States Conference men's basketball matchup at Marshall Gymnasium Saturday.

In a tight game played within single-digits throughout, the Pomeroys imposed their will on the glass, out-rebounding the Eagles 54-35, including a 21-6 edge on the offensive end.

Those 21 offensive boards led to 28 second-chance points. Ten of those points were scored by Shon Tupuola, who finished with 18 points and an absurd 23 rebounds, nine of them coming off of SMWC misses.

Down seven with 5:30 to play, the Eagles, who led 35-30 at the half, briefly took the lead back 67-66 on an 8-0 run, capped by a pair of Will VanHook free throws.

But in less than a minute, they'd be staring at a 62-57 deficit. After a Tupuola dunk, the Pomeroys turned back-to-back turnovers into back-to-back breakaway baskets.

Midway got it back to 72-70 on a Jared Courtney layup and appeared to have a stop on the other end, only for another putback basket, this one by Chaz Birchfield, to make it a two-possession game with less than a minute ago.

Saint Mary of the Woods then closed out its first ever win over Midway at the foul line, improving its RSC record to 3-0 while dropping the Eagles to 2-2.

Jalen Cincore had another excellent game in defeat, scoring 24 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Donnie Miller had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists for Midway, which is now 4-6 overall.

The Eagles enter a lengthy break before returning to conference action agaisnt Point Park at home on Jan. 4.

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