Omar Kellman led four Spartans in double-figures with 14 points as the St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team earned a 64-56 triumph over visiting Dowling College. Justin Brown (13 points), Irin Stark (11), and Dane Dixon (10) added to the balanced STAC attack.
With the victory, their third in their last four contests, the Spartans improve to 5-8 overall and 2-3 in the East Coast Conference while Dowling falls to 4-8, 0-3. Michael Hill led the Golden Lions with 13 points while Josh Malone added 10.
The Spartans started strong, as a Brown layup staked the hosts to a 12-4 lead less than four minutes into the affair. STAC extended its lead to as many as nine and never trailed over the first 20 minutes, yet entered the half leading just 33-30.
Both teams battled for the edge early in the second half, which included a span of over seven minutes in which neither team led by more than three points. A Malone dunk with just under 15 minutes left gave the Golden Lions their first lead of the night at 41-40. The visitors would claim their largest lead at 46-41 with 12:33 left before the Spartans would receive heroics from multiple quarters.
Dixon would follow a block on the defensive end with a layup on offense to trim the deficit to three. It was one of five blocks Dixon would record, several in the crucial waning minutes of play. Moments later, James Ockimey would nail a three-pointer to deadlock the score, but in the process, Ockimey sustaned an ankle injury that would send him to the bench for the remainder of the evening.
Sam Wilson performed yeoman's work running the point the rest of the way and, keyed by Dixon's defense, the Spartans embarked on an 8-2 run to open a 58-52 lead. Wilson hit three key free throws, Kellman converted a big put-back, and Brown sealed the deal with a jam with 21 seconds left - his only field goal of the second half - to key an all-around team victory.
St. Thomas Aquinas shot well from the field at 48% (24-50) while holding their foes to just 40% (25-63). The Spartans were an impressive 6-for-13 from behind the arc (46%), while Dowling enjoyed the rebounding edge, 37-28, including 18 offensive boards.
Tonight's contest was the Spartans' first of three in a row at home, as they will host Felician College this Saturday, January 14, in a 3:00 pm non-conference tilt. They return to the hardwood for an ECC showdown with with NYIT on Wednesday, January 18 at Aquinas Hall. Tip-off time is scheduled for 7:30 pm as the back end of a twin-bill with the women's teams. You can watch all the action and follow along with Live Stats by clicking the appropriate schedule links at game time. STAC will then travel to face Mercy College on Saturday, January 21 in a 3:00 pm start before returning home to face the University of Bridgeport on Wednesday, January 25 with the action scheduled to commence at 7:30 pm after the women's contest.