The St. Thomas Aquinas men's basketball team beat Mercy College, 84-73.  Sophomore Ra'Shad James had 27 points and 9 rebounds.  Justin Brown added 21 points shooting 10-18 from the floor.

The Spartans opened the game on an 11-4 run behind five points from James.  STAC outscored Mercy 19-2 in a five minute span to take a 41-19 lead with 3:36 left in the half.  Chad Williams made two free throws to close out the first half with STAC ahead, 46-29.  James had 21 points in the first half as he hit 5-6 from behind the arc.  Vincent Johnson added 12 points and 5 rebounds in the half to help carry STAC. 

The Spartans came out strong in the second half as the extended their lead to 55-31 behind a traditional three point play from Brown.  The Spartans maintained a double digit lead over the Mavericks until the final minute of play when Mercy got within nine on two occasions.  Jamie Blanchard added ten points for STAC while Williams had a team high three assists.

The Spartans will host C.W. Post on Saturday at 3 PM.