The St. Thomas Aquinas College mens basketball team erased a 20 point deficit before falling to an 81-77 decision in an East Coast Conference battle at Daemen College.The Spartans, ranked #12 by the NABC and #15 by D2SIDA in this week's national polls, slipped to 19-4 overall and 9-1 in ECC action, with Daemen improving to 20-6, 9-3.

Osbel Caraballo had the hot hand early with seven points in the first four minutes as STAC grabbed an early 9-8 edge. Jay Sarkis answered with a pair of three pointers and Breon Harris added another as a 17-4 barrage helped Daemen open a 25-13 gap midway through the half. The Wildcats' torrid shooting continued through intermission as the hosts opened a 47-31 cushion.

After the Wildcats extended the margin to 60-40, STAC showed signs of life as Demetre Roberts hit a three and Jamar Sudan added a layup to cap a 22-8 run to close the gap to 68-62 with 6:45 still to play. Sarkis answered with a trey but STAC's momentum continued with a 14-4 run as Caraballo gave his team a 76-75 lead with 1:20 left. On the ensuing possession, Harris hit a pair from the stripe and added two more in the final seconds to seal the win.

Caraballo led all scorers with 21 points, Roberts and Grant Singleton chipped in 16 each and Sekou Cisse added 14 for STAC, with Harris leading the way for Daemen with 20 points.

The Spartans' journey to Western New York wraps up at Roberts Wesleyan on Sunday afternoon, and their four-game road swing concludes with another ECC contest at Queens on Wednesday, February 19. They return to Aquinas Hall on Saturday, February 22, hosting New York Tech for a 3:00 pm start.