The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team honored seniors Daniel Skinner and Jason Halloway and proceeded to down Mercy College, 67-63, in their season finale. The victory snapped STAC's six-game losing streak.
The Spartans finish the season with a record of 9-17 overall and 5-11 in East Coast Conference play while Mercy checks in at 4-21, 4-12. Neither team qualifies for the ECC Tournament, which begins this week - the Spartans tied for sixth place with Molloy, however they placed behind the Lions in the standings based on tiebreakers.
While Halloway was unable to play in his Senior Day game due to an ailment, Skinner got the Spartans off on the right foot, hitting a pair of three-pointers and eight points in the first eight minutes to stake his squad to a 19-13 lead. While the lead would change hands eight times in the early going, the hosts would extend their margin to as high as 28-15 before settling with a 34-28 edge at the half.
STAC would maintain that lead through the second half and extend it to 64-50 with 4:50 left, setting the stage for a wild finish. With the game seemingly in hand, the Spartans opened the door for the Mavericks and Colin Senior racked up seven points in his team's 11-0 run, trimming the margin to 64-61 with 1:13 left.
James Ockimey hit one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game with 61 seconds to go, but a Kirk Bailey with 33 ticks left trimmed the margin to two. Omar Kellman missed the front end of a one-and-one with :18 left, and Mercy's Kortney Parker pump-faked from well behind the arc, drawing Spartan Nick Lopez into the air and creating contact for a three-shot foul with 5.7 seconds left and his team within two. Parker missed the first two and intentionally front-rimmed the third, but this time Kellman grabbed the rebound and drained the ensuing two foul shots to secure the victory.
Kellman and Justin Brown led the Spartans with 14 points each, with Lopez and Dane Dixon chipping in 10 apiece. Senior led all scorers with 19 points, and Maverick teammate LeBrandon Smith came off the bench to add 17. STAC shot 46% from the field (26-56), including a torrid 57% in the second half (12-21) while their foes hit for 42% (25-59). Mercy won the rebounding battle, 38-34, but the Spartans' passing was the key as they distributed 20 assists on their 26 field goals.
On behalf of the Department of Athletics, Coach Dennis O'Donnell, and the entire men's basketball team, we thank the members of the college community and our fans for their support throughout the season.