The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team fell to a 76-65 East Coast Conference loss to Dowling College at Aquinas Hall. Alushula Odongo scored a team-high 11 points for the Spartans, who were without the services of top scorer Omar Kellman in falling to 6-4 overall, 2-2, with Dowling improving to 9-1 overall and taking sole possession of first place in the conference with a 5-0 mark.

STAC jumped on top early, with a Marcus Henderson three-pointer and a Kiernan Hayes layup contributing to a 7-3 advantage after four minutes of play. Dowling responded quickly with a 7-0 outburst as part of a 14-2 run to give the visitors an eight point lead.

A Leon Taylor layup would stake the Golden Lions to a 26-17 advantage with six minutes remaining in the half, but the Spartans would show some life. STAC ran off the next eight points to trim the margin to just one point at 26-25, but missed free throws during that stretch prevented them from taking the lead.

Dowling took full advantage with the last five points of the half for a 31-25 edge going into the locker room.

STAC would quickly draw to within four, but Dowling's Darian Davis would take charge of the affair, recording 21 of his game-high 29 points after the break. A 22-9 outburst would give the Golden Lions a 17-point cushion at 53-36 with 12 minutes left.

Still, the game was far from over, as Jon McNair recorded five points in an 11-2 Spartan run to draw back to 55-47 with still over nine minutes left. That was as close as St. Thomas Aquinas would get, however, as Davis scored eight straight Dowling points in a 12-3 run that would seal the deal.

Marcus Henderson had a strong performance for the Spartans with 10 points and nine assists to go with just two turnovers, while Aaron Cust added 10 points. Evan Maxwell chipped in 13 points for Dowling, while Justin Alexander cleared a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Spartans are now off through the new year, and will return to action for three straight ECC home contests, starting on Saturday, January 4 against Daeman College. Tipoff time is set for 3:00 pm as the back end of a twin-bill, with the women's teams starting things off at 1:00 pm.