Waltham, Mass. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat #2 seeded Franklin Pierce University, 76-69 in the first round of the NCAA Division II East Regional Tournament, at the Dana Center on the campus of Bentley University.

#7 seed STAC improves to 27-4 on the season and advances to the semifinals on Sunday, taking on #6 University of New Haven at 5:00 p.m. Franklin Pierce wraps up its 2021-22 campaign at 18-11. 

Demetre Roberts led all scorers with 20 points for the Spartans, with Grant Singleton (13 points) Sean Moore (12 points) and Antonio Vendola (11 points) also scoring in double figures. Maxwell Zegarowski paced the Ravens offense with 17 points. 

St. Thomas Aquinas shot 43.3 percent from the field (29-67) and 38.5 percent from behind the arc (10-26), while Franklin Pierce shot 40.7 percent (24-59) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• All nine players who participated in the first round contest recorded double-digit minutes.
• Demetre Roberts and DeVante Jamison led the Spartans with four assists each on the afternoon.
• Roberts made 8 of his 13 field goal attempts, while Sean Moore went 5-for-9 from the floor.
• St. Thomas Aquinas out rebounded Franklin Pierce 38-37 in 40 minutes of action, with Sean Moore grabbing a team-high 11 boards for the Spartans.
• STAC picked up two steals in the contest, with Franklin Pierce turning the ball over on eight separate occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in five team statistical categories over the Ravens: Points off Turnovers (11-8), Second Chance Points (12-0), Points in the Paint (32-24), Fastbreak Points (4-2) and Bench Points (15-12).
• The victory by St. Thomas Aquinas is the team's 15th straight, dating back to January 23.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• A back and forth contest at the start resulted in multiple tie scores and Franklin Pierce only holding a five-point advantage (14-9) with just under 13 minutes left in the first half.
• With the score tied at 16 all, the Ravens rattled off nine straight points to take a 25-16 lead with 8:03 to play before halftime.
• Franklin Pierce pushed its advantage to 13 at the break (39-26) via a 14-10 run to close out the stanza.
• Demetre Roberts posted seven first half points for STAC, while Maxwell Zegarowski led all scorers with 10 points.
• Following the break, the Ravens extended its lead to 15, before the Spartans began to chip away at the FPU advantage. Elijah Bovell's bucket with 15:31 remaining in the contest, reduced the STAC deficit to 10 at 46-36.
• Demetre Roberts' jumper, Sean Moore's layup and a Jamal Barnes trey, narrowed the Franklin Pierce lead to three, 51-48, forcing the Ravens to call a timeout with just over 12 minutes to play.
• The teams traded baskets following the timeout, with FPU going up by five (55-50). However, STAC continued to be a thorn in the side of the Ravens and an Antonio Vendola three moved the margin to just one at 57-56.
• An Elijah Bovell jump shot opened the door for the Spartans to take their own one-point lead, 58-57 with 7:38 to play.
• Despite extending its lead to three (60-57), Franklin Pierce tied the game once again via an Isaiah Moore three-pointer.
• Clutch buckets by Demetre Roberts, Antonio Vendola and Grant Singleton gave St. Thomas Aquinas back its lead, 70-62 at the under four-minute media timeout.
• Franklin Pierce went on a 7-2 run over the next three minutes to close the gap on the scoreboard to just three at 72-69.
• The Ravens would foul the Spartans late, in an attempt to preserve time and regain possession of the basketball. STAC added four free-throws to extend its lead to seven and closed out the contest 76-69 to advance in the tournament.

UP NEXT:

#7 St. Thomas Aquinas takes on #6 University of New Haven in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II East Regional Tournament on Sunday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. New Haven advanced via a 78-70 victory over #3 Saint Anselm College.

The other semifinal will feature #1 Bentley University battling #5 Pace University at 7:30 p.m. Bentley advanced with a 95-63 triumph over #8 Felician University, while Pace moves on with a 77-64 win over #4 Dominican College.

2022 NCAA EAST REGIONAL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Saturday, March 12 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #6 New Haven 78 vs. #3 Saint Anselm 70 (BOX SCORE)
Game 2: #7 St. Thomas Aquinas 76 vs. #2 Franklin Pierce 69 (BOX SCORE)
Game 3: #8 Felician 63 vs. #1 Bentley 95 (BOX SCORE)
Game 4: #5 Pace 77 vs. #4 Dominican 64 (BOX SCORE)

Sunday, March 13 - Semifinals
Game 5: #6 New Haven vs. #7 St. Thomas Aquinas - 5 p.m. (LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS)
Game 6: #1 Bentley vs. #5 Pace - 7:30 p.m. (LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS)

Tuesday, March 15 - Championship
Game 7: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 - 7 p.m. (LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS)