The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team dropped it's home finale at Aquinas Hall in heartbreaking fashion, 77-75 in overtime. TJ Jones led the Spartans with 20 points, but Dawan Lighty's lay-up at the buzzer with the difference in the defeat. STAC falls to 5-22 with the loss, while Caldwell improves to 8-20.

While Caldwell jumped to an early 8-2 lead, the contest was a close one throughout, featuring 14 lead changes and 12 tied scores. Nick Lopez had 13 points, Omar Kellman had 12 and a game-high 16 rebounds, and Dane Dixon added 10 for the Spartans. Caldwell's Wyatt Polk led all scorers with 22 points, Michael Balkovic added 21 and 10 boards, and Lighty had 11 for the visitors.

After a see-saw struggle throughout the game, the Spartans had final shots to win the contest at the end of both regulation and overtime. A broken play in the final seconds of the second half led to an off-balanced shot from Sean James, with the errant shot leading to the extra session.

In overtime, James would hit a pair of free throws with 35.5 seconds left to put STAC up by a 75-73 count. Just eight seconds later, Lighty would draw a foul and calmly sink his two free throws to even the score again, giving the Spartans another chance for the clincher. With time winding down, Kellman's spin move to the hoop was off the mark. Caldwell's Kevin Walker cleared the rebound and alertly spotted Lighty streaking down the floor. His pass was on target and Lighty's drive to the hoop found net just before the final buzzer sounded.

The Spartans will wrap up the 2012-13 season this Saturday, March 2, in an East Coast Conference tilt at Queens College. The game is slated to start at 4:00 pm, as the front end of a twin bill with the women's teams.