The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team captured an 88-77 East Coast Conference victory over Queens College at Aquinas Hall. The Spartans - who started the week ranked #13 by the NABC and #11 by D2SIDA in national polls - have now won five straight, improving to 16-2 overall and 6-0 in the ECC, with Queens dropping to 3-13, 2-5.

Continuing their trend of recent games, the Spartans jumped on top early by a 7-0 count but Queens fired back on the strength of some prolific perimeter shooting. Elijah Bovell hit three three-pointers and Tyrese Croswell added another as the Knights jumped on top by a 14-11 count after seven miutes of action. Though the offense struggled, STAC's tenacious defense rose to the occasion, holding Queens off the board for a span of nearly eight minutes.

Though the Spartans endured a scoreless string of nearly four minutes in their own right, Demetre Roberts, Osbel Caraballo and Sekou Cisse led the charge in a 16-0 run to open a 27-14 advantage. Caraballo added a late jumper as the hosts carried a 43-26 advantage into intermission. A Cisse jumper just past the eight minute mark of the second half expanded the gap to 58-38.

Queens rode an 8-0 burst to draw to 60-48 with 9:23 remaining but the visitors were unable to draw closer than 12 until the final two minutes of the game, and the Spartans were never threatened in claiming the triumph. Caraballo led all scorers with 27 points, Cisse recorded 23, and Roberts added 20 as the region's top-ranked team improved to 16-1 in regional play. Bovell led three Knights in double-figures with 26 points.

The stage is set for Wednesday night's showdown as the Spartans return to action for a first place showdown against the University of Bridgeport at Aquinas Hall. Both teams enter play at 6-0 in ECC play as tip time is set for approximately 7:30 pm as part of double-header action starting with the women's teams squaring off at 5:30 pm.