Thomas broke out in a big way on Saturday, hitting 10-11 shots from the field and 6-7 from the line on his way to a career-high 26 points in Sacred Heart’s last second 80-79 setback at Merrimack. He added five rebounds and two assists. It was the first double-digit scoring effort of his career, and the 26 points marked the most by an NEC freshman against a DI opponent since CCSU’s Ian Krishnan went for 28 at Georgetown on November 10, 2018. His hook shot with 8.9 seconds to play gave the Pios a short lived one point lead. Thomas, whose brother Tyler was an All-NEC second teamer a year ago and ranks sixth in the league in scoring this season, registered 14.0 ppg on 78.6 percent shooting and added 3.5 rpg on the week.