The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team survived a frantic finish but held on for a 64-62 victory at LIU-Post in the quarter-finals of the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. Eli Maravich netted a season-high 17 points as STAC advances to face Dowling Friday night with the Spartans improving to 14-13 overall and Post closing out at 17-12.
Wednesday's victory was the first in playoff competition for St. Thomas Aquinas in exactly six years. On March 5, 2008 - as the #5 seed - STAC took a 66-65 decision from Bridgeport in the conference quarter-finals. They were defeated by Post, 82-65 in the semis three nights later.
Much like the first two meetings of these teams - both won by LIU-Post - the first half was the expected hard-fought struggle. Post started with the hot hand from the perimeter, jumping out to a 7-2 lead, only to see the Spartans take a 12-10 advantage on the strength of a pair of Eli Maravich three-pointers.
Tied scores and lead changes punctuated the rest of the half, which saw neither game grab a lead of more than three points. A Marcus Henderson trey in the final minute gave STAC a 27-25 lead, with Isiah Stokley tying the game for the Pioneers seconds later. With the half dwindling to a close, Maravich drained a pair of foul shots to give the Spartans a two-point edge entering the locker room.
STAC extended that lead to 31-27 on a pair of Chaz Watler free throws to start the half, only to see the Pioneers close to 35-34 on a Chris Oroszco lay-up. The Spartans then struck quickly from long distance, with Aaron Cust and Henderson converting from downtown in succession, opening the Spartans' biggest lead at 41-34. Jon McNair buried a pair of jumpers - one from beyond the arc - extending the run to 11-0 and giving the visitors a 46-34 cushion with 12 minutes left.
Post was far from finished, running off seven straight points in just over a minute to climb back to 46-41. Suddenly, STAC went cold from the floor, with a Charles McCann basket drawing the hosts to within 51-50 with under eight minutes to play. With just 6:30 left, Vaughn Allen tied the score for the Pioneers at 54-54 from the foul line.
With a chance to give his team its first lead of the half, Allen missed the second shot and Maravich struck back to put the Spartans back ahead by a pair at 56-54, but Allen responded with a pair from the stripe to deadlock the affair once again.
After another exchange of points, a pair of Maravich foul shots followed by a Kellman lay-up gave STAC a 62-58 lead with 3:30 to play, only to see Allen answer for the Pioneers to draw back to a two-point game. Tyuan Williams hit one of two from the line to bring Post to 62-61 with 1:44 left.
Dillon Burns' missed three-pointer gave the Spartans the ball with one minute remaining, but Maravich missed a trey with 27 seconds to go, giving Post another chance. PJ Torres came up empty with 14 seconds left and Omar Kellman was fouled, setting the stage for a furious finish.
Kellman sank one of two, but Allen was fouled rebounding the missed free throw, sending him to the line where he proceeded to miss both free throws. Sam Wilson was then fouled, sinking the first with a chance to all but seal the game, but missed the second with 10 seconds left, leaving the score at 64-61.
STAC elected to give the foul, sending Jared Hall for two shots with five seconds left. Hall made the first and missed the second, but LIU-Post retained possession off the ensuing scramble, giving them one last chance with two seconds remaining. Each team proceeded to call time out, and off the inbound Dillon Burns' attempted three pointer - which would have given the hosts their first lead of the half - fell off the mark, sending the jubilant Spartans on to the semi-finals.
Kellman added 14 points and nine rebounds to Maravich's team-high total, with McNair adding 11 off the bench. Torres was the only Pioneer in double-figures with a game-high 19 points, with Tyuan Williams pulling down 13 rebounds.
St. Thomas Aquinas will now travel to take on the top seeded Dowling College Golden Lions - who received a quarter-final bye - at Dowling Gym in Brookhaven on Friday, March 7. The other semi-final sees #2 University of Bridgeport coming off its bye, hosting #3 Molloy College, which ousted #6 Queens by a 69-58 count.
The winners of those semi-final contests will square off for the ECC Championship at the highest remaining seed on Sunday, March 9. The Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament.