St. Joseph, Mo. – The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team came up short in its late second half rally attempt, falling to Missouri Western State University, 93-82 on Sunday evening at the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic in St. Joseph, Missouri. 

In a back-and-forth battle that saw 11 lead changes, the Griffons were able to pull away in the game's closing minutes, as STAC wraps up its 2-game road trip to the midwest, going 1-1. Senior Osbel Caraballo built off his strong performance on Saturday with another big effort on Sunday. The forward led the Spartans with a season-high 21 points, 15 of which came in the first 20 minutes of the game.

In a pressure-packed, fast pace affair, the teams combined for 72 points in the paint and forced 33 combined turnovers. Missouri Western State relied on their three-point shooting to pull away in the second half, going 9-13 from deep in the final 20. STAC struggled from behind the arc in the half, going 2-9 from three.

Following the final game of the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic, it was announced by the tournament organizers that Osbel Caraballo was among a dozen players named to the 2021 All-Classic Team. Caraballo averaged 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in the Spartans' two contests over the weekend.
 
STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS

• Osbel Caraballo (21), Demetre Roberts (18) and Grant Singleton (12) recorded double-digit points in the game.
• 19 of STAC's 82 points in the contest came off the bench.
• After shooting a red hot 65.5% from the field in the first half, the Spartans shot just 39.4% in the second half.
• STAC made 5-of-15 three-point attempts while Missouri Western State hit 18-of-30 threes taken, which accounted for 54 of their 93 points scored.
• Demetre Roberts lead the Spartans with five steals on the evening.
• All 10 Spartans who played in the contest recorded double-digit minutes, with Caraballo setting the pace with 33 minutes of action.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
FIRST HALF

• STAC opened the game with a Demetre Roberts layup, 53 seconds into the game.
• Ten of the Spartans first 25 points came via Osbel Caraballo
• Missouri Western State was able to grow the lead to 36-27, before the Spartans went on an 6-0 run to cut the lead to three with just under five and a half minutes left in the opening stanza.
• Both the Spartans and Griffons continued to battle, with the teams trading buckets down the stretch. STAC outscored Missouri Western State 12-10 in the final four minutes of the half.
• Osbel Caraballo put St. Thomas Aquinas up two with 13 seconds remaining on a layup. However, JaQuaylon Mays would get off a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to give Missouri Western State a one-point lead at the break, 46-45.
• Caraballo led the way for STAC, scoring 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
• Mays paced the Griffons, posting 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting (3-of-4 from three-point).

SECOND HALF

• The Spartans opened the half, taking a one-point lead on a Luis Risquez layup, making it 47-46.
• Missouri Western State would retake the lead moments later and proceed to go on an 8-0 run to pull ahead 57-49 with 17:00 left in the game.
• STAC would get within six on an Antonio Vendola layup, but the Griffons would go on another run, this time 10-5 to push their lead to 67-56.
• The teams would combine for 18 points (nine each) over the next 4:05, with the Griffons holding an 11-point lead at 76-65.
• St. Thomas Aquinas would close the gap to a five-point Griffon lead at 87-82 with just over two minutes remaining in the half.
• The Spartans would force back-to-back turnovers by Missouri Western State, but failed to capitalized on those chances, missing consecutive three-point attempts.
• Missouri Western State would close the game on a 6-0 run, getting a layup and free throw from JaQuaylon Mays and a three-pointer from Reese Glover to seal the Griffons victory by the final score of 93-82.
• Sean Moore scored nine points, while Demetre Robers posted eight.
• Reese Glover led all scorers in the second half, recording 15 points and going 5-of-7 from behind the arc.

UP NEXT: The Spartans will return to the East Coast, but remain on the road, taking on Nyack College and Dominican College in the DC Charger Tip-Off Classic, November 12 & 13 at the Hennessy Center in Blauvelt.

2021 SCB National HOF Classic
All Classic Team

DiVant'e Moffitt, Seattle Pacific
Chaney Johnson, AL-Huntsville
Osbel Caraballo, STAC
Trevor Hudgins, NW MO State
Wes Dreamer, NW MO State
Sam Masten, Northern State
Jordan Belka, Northern State
JaQuaylon Mays, MO Western
Reese Glover, MO Western
Caleb Bennett, MO Western
Jon Alessandro, Embry-Riddle

Elijah Jenkins, Embry-Riddle (MVP)