After trailing by as many as 26 points, the St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team staged a frantic comeback but fell just short in a 66-63 defeat at Nyack College on Wednesday. TJ Jones led the Spartan attack with 25 points but it was not enough to prevent his team from falling to 1-7 on the season, while Nyack improved to 2-8 overall.

In the first minute of play, a three-pointer from Jones brought the Spartans even, but the home squad would take charge from there, embarking on a 27-8 tear. That lead was eventually extended to 41-15 in the final minute of the first half before another Jones trey gave the visitors hope entering the break.

Despite STAC's 7-0 run to start the second half, Nyack held firm, maintaining an apparently comfortable 62-44 advantage with under seven minutes to play. Once again, Jones would come up big, netting three more treys in a 17-4 burst that drew the Spartans to within a manageable 66-61 deficit with over two minutes remaining.

Alushula Odongo's jumper brought the Spartans within 66-63 with 1:35 left, and after a pair of missed Nyack free throws, Jones would have one more opportunity, but his game-tying attempt in the final seconds would not go down.

Justin Brown added 12 points and Eddie Johnson had 10 for STAC, while Nyack's Khalid Samuels shot a torrid 13-of-18 in pouring in a game-high 31 points. Teammate Chris Hampton added 13 for the victorious hosts.

The Spartans will now have off for the Christmas break before traveling to take on Virginia State on December 29, and Virginia Union on December 30. They will start off the new year with a January 5 meeting against Roberts Wesleyen at 3:00 pm at Aquinas Hall.