The St. Thomas Aquinas College basketball team returned to the East Coast Conference finals with a 91-76 win in semi-final action at the University of the District of Columbia. The Spartans, ranked #18 in the nation, #2 in the East Region, and the ECC's #2 seed, improved to 24-5 overall, while #3 seed Daemen (ranked #7 in the East) slipped to 24-8. St. Thomas Aquinas advances to face the top seed University of Bridgeport in Sunday's finale at 2:30 pm.

Grant Singleton opened the scoring for STAC with a three-pointer, but Jay Sarkis also struck from deep to cap a 7-0 response to give Daemen an early advantage. With the game tied at 20-20 midway through the first half, Kobe Opoku's layup touched off a 13-2 run as Sekou Cisse nailed a three and Osbel Caraballo followed with a layup to open a 33-22 advantage with 6:22. The teams largely exchanged baskets for the remainder of the half as the Spartans carried a 42-34 lead into intermission.

Andrew Sischo's early layup brought the Wildcats to 44-38 in the opening minutes of the second half but STAC again answered quickly as Demetre Roberts scored six points and Singleton scored five straight in a 19-6 burst in a span of just over six minutes, opening a commanding 63-44 spread with 12:38 left. While Daemen drew the deficit to as little as nine at 84-75 with 2:25 left, they were unable to cast a serious threat as STAC answered with big hoops whenever they were needed.

Caraballo led four Spartans in double-figures with a game-high 29 points, Singleton poured in 20, Roberts added 14, and Sekou Cisse posted 13. ECC Player of the Year Sischo led the Wildcats with 23 points and 17 rebounds, with Jay Sarkis chipping in 13.

STAC's victory sets the stage for Sunday's Championship showdown against top-seeded University of Bridgeport, who advanced with an impressive 119-85 victory over fourth-seeded defending tourney champ Molloy. Bridgeport took the season series by sweeping a pair of close affairs as the top to teams in the East square off for the third time this season.