The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team rallied from an 18-point second half deficit to tie the score before falling at Felician College, 78-73. Justin Brown's game-high 29 points was not enough in the non-conference setback as the Spartans fell to 4-16 overall while Felician improved to 9-12.

Felician jumped on top early with a 7-1 run to start the evening, and extended that margin to as many as 11 points before STAC closed to within 37-29 at halftime.

Both teams traded baskets early in the second before the Golden Falcons took off on an 18-7 run to open a 63-45 chasm with 11 minutes to play. The would prove to be the Spartans' wake-up call, as they stormed out to a 24-8 run, drawing to within 71-69 on a Brown three-pointer with exactly three minutes left.

Foul shooting would haunt St. Thomas Aquinas on this night, as they rallied to tie the score at 73-73 with just under a minute to play but in doing so, both Brown and Omar Kellman split a pair of free throws, with the two misses looming large. Ayotunde Oyeniyi broke the deadlock with a jumper to put Felician up, 75-73 with 38 seconds left. STAC would still have opportunities to tie, but a turnover and errant perimiter shooting in the final seconds would seal their fate.

Brown was one of four scorers in double-figures for STAC, with TJ Jones (13 points), Nick Lopez (12) and Omar Kellman (11 points, 12 rebounds) keeping matters close. Antoine Obery was dominant for Felician with 27 points and a game-high 19 rebounds as the hosts owned the glass by a 50-33 margin. Anthony D. Green would chip in with 15 for the Golden Falcons.

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.