The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team won its fifth East Coast Conference Tournament Championship in six years with an 83-67 victory over Daemen College at Aquinas Hall. STAC has now taken two-of-three against Daemen this season and stands at 13-1 overall, with the Wildcats slipping to 8-5. Both teams are expected to earn NCAA Tournament bids - which will be announced later tonight - as the teams entered play at No. 1 and No. 3 in the East Regional rankings respectively.
After tagging STAC with its lone loss just eight days earlier, a pair of Andrew Mason three-pointers jump-started the Wildcats and his third offset a pair from Grant Singleton to give the visitors a 14-9 lead seven minutes into the affair. Demetre Roberts, Singleton, and Osbel Caraballo netted consecutive hoops to put the Spartans on top for the first time at 15-14 with 11:35 on the clock. After an exchange of leads, Kyle Harris' lay-up with seven minutes to go put Daemen in a 22-20 lead, but the hosts took charge from there.
Caraballo hit back-to-back buckets and Jamal Barnes added a trey, with Roberts adding 10 points over the final six minutes - including a buzzer-beating three - as the Spartans closed with a 21-6 barrage to claim a 41-28 lead at intermission. Roberts added the first two scores of the second half to increase the lead to 17 points.
Daemen made several attempts to claw back into the title tilt but each time the Spartans had the answer. A 10-4 Wildcats run trimmed the deficit to 54-43, but Singleton converted a three-point play and Roberts and Barnes struck again from deep as the gap expanded to 63-43. With STAC holding a 21-point margin midway through the half, Daemen used a 17-7 burst to again draw within 11 at 74-63 with 4:35 still to play, but the tenacious St. Thomas Aquinas defense yielded just four points the rest of the way to secure the program's first ever tournament championship title won on home hardwood.
Roberts recorded 23 points and six assists for STAC, with Tournament MVP Singleton adding 20 and seven rebounds, and Caraballo chipping in 13 with eight boards. ECC Player of the Year Andrew Sischo continued his consistent career of dominance with game highs of 27 points and nine rebounds, while Mason was 5-for-5 from beyond the arc to record 19. While the Wildcats actually had the better of of the shooting numbers by a small margin, it was the frantic Spartans defense that made the difference, forcing a 17-8 margin in turnovers, accounting for a 23-12 advantage in points off TOs.
The Spartans are expected to maintain the East's top seed for the upcoming NCAA Tourney. As a Covid-year adjustment, only six teams will represent each region, narrowing the field from 64 to 48 teams, with the top two in each region earning a first-round bye into the semi-finals, which will take place next Sunday, March 14, in Albany, NY. Check stacathletics.com for the latest on tourney scheduling and information.