The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team takes on nearby rival Dominican College on Sunday at 5:00 pm in the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II Tournament East Regional at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.
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How They Got Here - Only 32 teams remain in contention for the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship and its likely that no two are in closer proximity than Sunday's semi-final opponents. St. Thomas Aquinas, seeded #6, rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit to snatch a 61-59 victory over #3 seeded LeMoyne in the day's opener. Osbel Caraballo had 17 points and Demetre Roberts 13 to lead STAC. Just a few hours later, #7 Dominican exploded from the halftime locker room and rode a 20-2 run to an impressive 64-50 win over #2 seed and NE-10 Tourney champ Merrimack. Jonathan Garcia posted a game-high 20 for Dominican, while Ian Gardener added 13.
The Match-Up - Separated by just over one mile on the map, STAC and Dominican have traveled over 240 miles to renew their Rockland County (NY) rivalry, with both scoring first-round upsets. These teams met on November 18, 2018, at the Dan Sullivan Memorial Tournament at Dominican’s Hennessy Center with STAC snatching a tough 63-61 victory. The Spartans saw an 11-point halftime lead eliminated before a Demetre Roberts jumper with 24 seconds left sealed the win.
Spartans in the Post-Season – The Spartans have advanced to the ECC Finals in five of the past six seasons, winning the first three Tournament Championships in the program’s history. They are in their fourth straight NCAA Tourney, having won the Regional Championship in 2017. In the Division II era, STAC is 14-5 in playoff competition (all in the six years under Anderson), with a 9-3 mark in ECC Tournament action, 5-2 in NCAA East Regional play, and 0-1 at the Elite Eight. This evening’s game is STAC’s second meeting with a CACC foe, dropping last year’s battle with Bloomfield. With yesterday’s win over Molloy, the Spartans are now 5-1 vs. NE-10 squads at the NCAAs.
Seedings? What Seedings? – In their seven previous NCAA Tournament East Region games over the past four seasons, the Spartans have been the lower seed entering five of them. STAC’s record in those contests stands at 4-1.
Back-to-Back STAC/NCAA Nuggets – With the St. Thomas Aquinas women’s team also qualifying for the NCAA Tourney, STAC is the only school to place both teams in the national event for the past two seasons. STAC faced LeMoyne in the openers of both this year, marking the first time since the field expanded to 64 teams that two schools have played each other in the same round of both men’s and women’s tourneys. Also, with their fourth straight appearance, only St. Thomas Aquinas and this year’s host St. Anselm can claim that distinction on the men’s side.
Calm Under Pressure – The Spartans have developed a well-earned reputation for bringing games down to the wire before pulling out victories, and the start of this season was no exception. During their 10-1 burst to start the season, STAC’s average margin of victory was 5.7 points per game in the 10 wins, with six of those decided by six points or less. Their one loss, incidentally, was a one-point setback at home against Bloomfield. Including yesterday’s stirring comeback win against LeMoyne, the Spartans now stand at 10-5 this season in games decided by six points or less.
Saturday, March 16 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #6 Saint Thomas Aquinas 61, #3 Le Moyne 59
Game 2: #7 Dominican 64, #2 Merrimack 50
Game 3: #1 Saint Anselm 81, #8 Molloy 71
Game 4: #4 New Haven 72, #5 Daemen 67
Sunday, March 17 - Semifinals
Game 5: St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Dominican - 5 p.m. (LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS)
Game 6: St. Anselm vs. New Haven - 7:30 p.m. (LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS)
Tuesday, March 19 - Championship
Game 7: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 - 7 p.m. (LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS)