The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team started the second half of their East Coast Conference schedule with a 95-80 victory over Mercy College at Aquinas Hall. The Spartans, ranked #17 in this week's NABC national poll, improve to 18-1 overall and 9-1 in conference play, while Mercy dropped to 4-15, 2-7.

Grant Singleton hit from deep as STAC opened a quick 5-2 lead, but Brian Griffin answered with the next six straight to give the Mavericks a quick 10-5 advantage. That lead extended to 15-8 on a three-pointer from Lamont Williams, but Sekou Cisse scored the next four points to keep the Spartans close. Torrid shooting kept Mercy on top until Osbel Caraballo's jumper with 5:50 left put the hosts on top at 35-34. Though they would not trail thereafter, the Mavericks were down by just 45-42 at intermission after a late score by Cisse.

STAC bolted to a 9-2 run in the first 2:15 of the second half to make the gap 54-44, but Williams hit back-to-back treys in a 10-0 run to bring the visitors even at 57-57 with just over 14 minutes remaining. Seconds later, Caraballo drained a three and added a layup in quick succession as the Spartans jumped on top to stay. Still, the visitors battled back, drawing to 74-70 on a three-point play by Griffin with 7:52 on the clock, but again STAC would answer.

Caraballo, who was dominant down the stretch, capped off an 8-0 run to extend the cushion to 82-70, and taking advantage of Griffin's foul trouble, the sophomore pivot reeled off 10 straight STAC points to seal the win. He ended the day with 27 points and eight caroms to lead the Spartans, while Cisse (22), Singleton (20), and Roberts (14) all added to the attack. Griffin was impressive with a game-high 34 to go with 18 rebounds, with Williams chipping in 26.

The Spartans will play their next four games on the road before returning to Aquinas Hall, starting at Molloy College on Wednesday, February 5. They then embark on their Upstate New York weekend, facing Daemen (February 14) and Roberts Wesleyan (February 16), before wrapping up at Queens on February 19. They return to Aquinas Hall to square off with NYIT on Saturday, February 22.