The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team fell to its third straight defeat, as they were outpaced by LIU-Post, 73-63. Omar Kellman, Justin Brown, and Irin Stark led the Spartans with 14 points each. The setback was the sixth in the last seven contests for the Spartans, who fell to 8-14 overall, 4-9 in East Coast Conference competition. Post tightened its grip on first place in the loop with victory number 10 in its last 11 games, improving to 17-5, 11-1.

Post jumped to a 9-0 lead in the first four minutes of play, with ECC scoring leader contributing five of his game-high 24 points. Very much as was the case in the previous meeting of these teams - a 66-58 Post win on January 7 at Pratt Center - the Spartans would claw their way back within range only to see the Pioneers extend the margin. The visitors led by as many as twelve points on five different occasions, while STAC drew to as close as six before settling with a 34-25 halftime deficit. Post was not especially hot from the field, but they preserved their possessions, yielding just two turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

The second half proceeded in much the same fashion, with the Pioneers opening up a margin of as much as 15, and STAC pulling to within as few us seven, but unable to seriously mount a challenge to their talented visitors.

Bonneau was joined in double-figures by Pioneer teammates Vaughn Allen (13 points, nine rebounds), Tobin Carberry (11 points) and Tyuan Williams (10 points, game-high 11 rebounds). St. Thomas Aquinas actually outshot Post from the field, recording 44% (25-57) to the Pioneers' 41% (29-70). The Spartans were 6-for-20 from three-point range, comparable to Post's 5-of-19, and the teams were deadlocked in rebounds at 38. 

Just four games remain in the regular season - three in conference - as the Spartans make their push for the ECC Tournament. They will travel to face NYIT on Wednesday, February 15, take on Caldwell on Saturday, February 18, and journey to the University of Bridgeport on the 22nd before hosting Mercy College to wrap up the pre-tournament portion of the schedule on Senior Day, Saturday, February 25. If you can't be on hand to enjoy Alumni Day and all the action of STAC hoops, be sure to watch the game online and follow along with our Live Stats feature.