The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point first half deficit to take a late lead before falling, 63-58 to Queens College at Aquinas Hall. Nick Lopez had 15 points to lead four Spartans in double-figures but the tough East Coast Conference setback dropped STAC to 4-7 in league play, 4-15 overall. Queens improved to 7-12, 7-4 with the road victory.

While the teams exchanged leads in the opening minutes, it was Queens with an 8-0 burst, snapping a 13-13 tie with nine minutes to play in the first half. George Holmes was a force for the Knights, as his driving lay-up staked his squad to a 32-21 lead with five minutes remaining. STAC would chip away scoring the final five points of the half to trail 34-28 at the break.

Nick Lopez would cap off a 13-5 Spartan run to draw the hosts even at 41-41 just five minutes into the second stanza, and after a Daniel Watson basket, Justin Brown drilled a trey to put STAC up, 44-43, at the 12:47 mark. Once again, the feisty visitors would build a lead of as many as six points, only to see STAC pull to within 52-51 in the final two minutes of regulation on a Lopez basket.

Holmes would continue the hot hand, putting his team up by three with 1:21 left, and with the Spartans missing several close opportunities in the waning seconds, the visitors were able to hold on. Brown recorded 11 points and Jones and Kellman added 10 each in the balanced STAC offense. Holmes was the deciding factor with a game-high 23 points, with Watson adding 14 for Queens.

St. Thomas Aquinas will take the trip to Rochester, NY to tackle Roberts Wesleyan College in an East Coast Conference basketball twin-bill this Wednesday, February 6. Action starts with the women's contest at 6:00 pm, followed by the men's game, before STAC hosts Mercy in another conference showdown at Aquinas Hall on Saturday, February 9, starting at 1:00 pm.