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.