The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team rallied to a 71-68 victory over Daemen College in an ECC rematch at Aquinas Hall. With the win, the Spartans are now 11-1 overall and 10-1 in the ECC, earning their fourth regular season championship in the past seven years and taking the top seed into this week's East Coast Conference Tournament. Daemen came up short in its quest for a weekend sweep, slipping to 7-4, 7-2.
Coming off Saturday's 84-81 overtime victory by Daemen, Andrew Sischo's three-point play gave the visitors an early 13-5 lead after six minutes of play, but the Spartans chipped away until Osbel Caraballo's layup with 6:49 left in the half put his team on top for the first time at 21-20. Ryan Salzberg - Saturday's hero for the Wildcats - hit a three to open a 32-25 gap, but Demetre Roberts scored STAC's final five points to leave the tally at 34-30 at half.
While St. Thomas Aquinas struggled from the floor, they did take care of the ball as a 21-4 final margin in turnovers kept the Spartans alive. STAC scored the first four points out of intermission to tie the score, but Daemen went on a 10-0 tear to take the biggest lead for either team all weekend at 44-34 with 16:55 left. Each time the home squad made a run to tighten the gap, the Wildcats had the answer as Andrew Mason's trey with 5:53 left opened a 61-53 margin.
Aiding the comeback attempt was a strong second half from Demetre Roberts, whose driving reverse layup late in the contest accounted for his 1,000th career point.
On Saturday, it was Daemen who overcame an eight-point deficit in the final minutes to grab the decision, but one day later it was the Spartans' chance to return the favor. Antonio Vendola hit a big three with 3:44 left to close the gap to 64-60 and Grant Singleton attacked the basket to trim the gap to two with just over three minutes left.
Sischo answered to again make the margin four points, but Singleton was not to be denied, tying the score at 66-66 on back-to-back drives with 1:53 left. Daemen's Kyle Harris missed a three and Singleton was the man again, burying a three-pointer to give his team it's largest lead of the afternoon at 69-66 with 1:04 remaining. Sischo's layup with 35 seconds left made it a one-point game and a turnover gave them a chance with :14 on the clock. Under intense pressure, Louis Griffith stole a cross-court pass and hit two free throws with five seconds left, and Sean Fasoyiro's desperate attempt to tie the game at the buzzer was off the mark.
Singleton had 16 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, with Roberts posting 17 and Caraballo 12. Sischo was again a force with game highs of 26 points and 10 rebounds.
The seedings are now set for this week's five-team East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament field, with STAC and Daemen at #s 1 and 2 respectively, followed by Roberts Wesleyan, Molloy and Mercy. Action starts on Wednesday with a quarterfinal game featuring Mercy at Molloy, with the winner playing STAC at Aquinas Hall on Friday, March 5 at 7:00 pm. Also on Friday, Daemen will host Roberts in the other semi-final with winners advancing to the finals on Sunday afternoon, March 7. Should the Spartans win Friday's semi, they will host the Championship Game on Sunday, with time TBD.