The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team jumped out to an early lead but could not hold on as Mercy College posted a 68-63 East Coast Conference win at Aquinas Hall. Justin Brown and TJ Jones tied for the game-high with 16 points each, but the Spartans post-season aspirations were dealt a severe blow as they fell to 5-18, 5-9, while Mercy improved to 4-18, 3-11.

STAC bolted from the gate, with Nick Lopez recording six points in a 17-6 Spartan outburst over the first 4:25 of play. Mercy would rebound quickly, reeling off the next seven points to draw close, and the battle was on. The score was deadlocked on six different occasions in the first half alone, with the final one broken by a pair of Brown free-throws which gave the hosts a 34-32 lead at halftime.

More of the same was in store after the break, in an exciting contest that featured 11 tied scores and seven lead changes in all. Neither team was able to establish a lead of more than four points after the break until Kirk Bailey gave the Mavericks a 57-51 lead with 6:50 remaining. That occurred during a period of nearly six minutes that the Spartans were held without a point, with the visitors taking charge on an 8-0 run.

St. Thomas Aquinas would battle back to within three points at 59-56, but poor foul shooting would seal the Spartans fate, with the hosts converting just eight of 20 free throws in the night. Lopez added 10 points for STAC, with Joseph Pope leading Mercy with 14 points and nine rebounds.

STAC will hit the road for three of its final four ECC match-ups, starting this Saturday, February 16, at NYIT. They will play their final conference home game on Saturday, February 23, against the University of Bridgeport with double-header action at Aquinas Hall beginning with the women's contest slated to start at 1:00 pm.