Justin Brown netted 18 points but the St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team came up short in an East Coast Conference tilt at NYIT, 81-70. The Spartans remain one game behind Dowling for the final ECC Tournament slot despite dropping six of their last seven overall to fall to 5-19, 5-10. NYIT improved to 16-9, 10-5.

STAC couldn't have gotten off to a better start as Brown took the opening tip and nailed a three-points just seconds into the game. The first half was a hotly contested battle which included several lead changes and a span of over 12 minutes in which neither team led by more than three points.

Dane Dixon converted a dunk-and-one with just over six minutes left in the half to draw the Spartans even at 25-25, but they would then encounter a drought that would prove to be the difference in the contest. The Bears closed out the first 20 minutes with a 15-3 run, sealed by a Kayvon Roberts lay-up on the final seconds that sent them to the locker room with a 40-28 advantage.

That momentum would carry through after the break, with NYIT recording the first six points of the second stanza. In all, the Bears' run would be a 21-3 outburst over a span of about eight minutes that would see the hosts open a comfortable 46-28 cushion. While the Spartans would regain their composure, it would proved to be too little, too late, as they were not able to draw closer than the 11 point margin at the final buzzer.

TJ Jones added 17 points and Dixon notched 12 for STAC, while Tech's Phil Izevbehai led all scorers with 21. Bears teammates Dominic Scurry (17 points), Roberts (13), Antoine Brown and Markus Moore (10 each) paced the balanced NYIT attack that saw five players hit double-figures.

With the regular season winding down, STAC's road to the playoffs will be a difficult - but not impossible one. That road takes the Spartans to LIU-Post this Wednesday, February 20, for a 7:00 start before returning to Aquinas Hall to host the first place University of Bridgeport on Saturday, February 23 at 3:00 pm.