Sparkill, N.Y. - A 31-point effort by Jamal Barnes helped the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team defeat D'Youville College, 88-67 on Sunday afternoon at Aquinas Hall Gym. STAC improves to 13-4 and 6-1 in the ECC, while the Saints drop to 2-15 and 1-8 in conference play.

Nine different players registered a point for the Spartans, with the aforementioned Jamal Barnes leading the way with 31 points. Demetre Roberts and Osbel Caraballo posted 16 points apiece, with Grant Singleton chipping in 10 points.

STAC shot 41.7 percent from the field (35-84) in the conference tilt, while making 12-of-29 buckets from behind the arc. D'Youville shot 41.8% (23-55) and 6-for-18 from three.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS: 

• 10 different players recorded double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• DeVante Jamison led the Spartans with five assists on the day.
• Jamal Barnes made 12 of his 23 field goal attempts, with 7-of-14 going from three. Demetre Roberts went 6-for-11 from the floor.
• The Spartans were 22-40 (55.0%) from the field and 6-10 (60.0%) from downtown in the first half and 13-44 (29.5%) from the floor and 6-19 (31.6%) from three in the second half.
• St. Thomas Aquinas picked up 16 steals in the contest, with D'Youville turning the ball over on 22 different occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in four team statistical categories over D'Youville: Points off of Turnovers (28-7), Second Chance Points (20-14) and Points in the Paint (28-20) and Bench Points (42-11).

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• St. Thomas Aquinas was strong from the opening tip, holding a 10-2 lead at the sixteen minute media timeout and built a 23-8 margin by the middle of the first half.
• D'Youville would attempt to rally the troops and fight back on the scoreboard, but the explosive Spartan offense overwhelmed the Saints, as STAC would take its largest lead of the game (27), at 52-25 with 34 seconds left in the opening half and go into the break with a 52-28 advantage.
• Jamal Barnes paced the offense for the Spartans, leading all scorers in the first half with 21 points. Chris Stineman recorded 16 points for the visiting Saints through 20 minutes of action.
• In the second half, D'Youville narrowed the gap by as much as 16 (76-60) late in the stanza, but could get no closer, with STAC going on a 12-7 run to end the contest.

UP NEXT: 

St. Thomas Aquinas returns to action, traveling to the University of Bridgeport, on Wednesday evening, January 26. Opening tip between the Spartans and Purple Knights is scheduled for 7:00pm at Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium in Connecticut.