The St. Thomas Aquinas men's basketball team lost to Dowling 64-55.  Justin Brown had a game high 22 points.  Jason Halloway and Nick Lopez each added 8 points for STAC while  Daniel Skinner had 3 assists.

The Spartans took a 16-13 lead off a layup from Halloway at the 7:29 mark.  Irin Stark scored at 5:35 to give STAC an 18-15 advantage.  In a close half that saw 8 lead changes and 7 ties, Brown made a jumper to end the stanza and give STAC a 26-25 lead at the break. 

The Spartans pushed their lead to six behind a layup from Brown at the 17:00 minute mark.  The Spartans remained in control for most of the second half until  Michael Hill scored on a traditional three point play to give the Lions a 53-50 lead with 3:34 remaining.  Brown scored a layup for STAC on the next possession to bring them within one, 53-52.  Stark was able to tie the game hitting one of two free throws to force the extra period. 

The Lions got out to a 7-0 start in the extra session and kept the Spartans out of reach to finish off with a 64-55 victory.   The Lions held a 43-37 advantage on the glass with Algirdas Macevicius grabbing a game high 15 boards.  The Spartans struggled from the line shooting 12-21 and were 1-12 from behind the arc.

STAC will return to action when they host Mercy College on Saturday at 3:00 PM.