The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team prevailed by a 73-68 count in an East Coast Conference battle at Molloy College. The Spartans, ranked #14 in this week's NABC poll, have now won three straight and nine of 10 to improved to 19-3 overall, and 9-1 in conference action, while Molloy slipped to 8-12, 5-5. Five Spartans finished the night in double-figures, led by Osbel Caraballo (16), Louis Griffith (14), Sekou Cisse (13) and Demetre Roberts and Grant Singleton (10 each).

Molloy led for much of the first half, opening a 22-15 lead on a Josh Dennis layup just past the midway point, but a Caraballo three-point play capped a 10-0 Spartans answer for a 25-22 edge. The Lions briefly reclaimed the lead on a Nick Corbett three, but STAC was able to grab a narrow 39-36 edge through 20 minutes.

Neither team scored for over three minutes to start the second half before STAC slowly pulled away as Caraballo spearheaded a 9-2 run to open a 57-44 gap with nine minutes left. The Spartans extended their lead to 68-53 with 4:33 to play, but the Lions made a vailent run in the final minutes before some late STAC free throws down the stretch preserved the win. Nick Corbett set the pace for the hosts with a game-high 23 points.

The game was the first of four straight ECC road battles for the Spartans, who return to action in nine days for their Western New York swing. A showdown battle is on tap at Daemen on Friday, February 14, followed by a contest at Roberts Wesleyan on Sunday, February 16. After traveling to Queens on Wednesday, 2/19, the team returns to Aquinas Hall to take on NYIT on Saturday, 2/22.