The Pirates soundly defeated rival St. Louis Community College Thursday 87-69.  The win moves the Pirates to 18-8 on the season and extends their winning streak to 8.  "It was a great night for our program and a special thanks to the community for coming out and supporting us," remarked an ecstatic Coach Esry following the game.

The win avenges an earlier season road defeat to the Archers.  "STLCC handed it to us pretty good at their place so for us to bounce back tonight was nice.  The THS band was great and the crowd gave us a lot of energy the entire game which I thought made a difference," commented Esry.  Sophomore Demetrious Houston Jr. and freshman Jalen Gant's 18 points apiece didn't hurt matters either.

Defensively, the Pirates were able to force St. Louis into a poor shooting night.  "Our guys did a great job of focusing in on the defensive end and forcing St. Louis into some tough shots," noted Esry who has been preaching a defensive mindset all season long.  It certainly paid off Thursday night.

Major Finley added 14 points while Josh Goss put in 11 off the bench.  "I thought we shared the ball really well and played some great team Pirate Basketball."

The night was full of special events.  Trenton native Mike Ransdell had a video crew on campus all day filming for a basketball hype video that will be used to generate further buzz around the men's and women's programs plus serve as a marketing tool for the college that shows our great collegiate atmosphere.  Students participated in a "GameDay Sign Contest" plus Media Club President Curtis Mitchell had the student section fired up.  "A special thanks to Craig Sager, Ryan Suttenfield and Nate Gamet for helping organize such a great atmosphere and our student section for being loud and rowdy all night long!" concluded Esry.

The Pirates finish off their regular season schedule Saturday when they go on the road against North Arkansas.  They aim to keep their momentum going as they thunder toward the Region 16 Tournament.