The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team took its third straight victory, downing University of the District of Columbia, 66-62 at Aquinas Hall. Chaz Watler posted 21 points as the Spartans won their East Coast Conference opener to improve to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in conference play, while UDC fell to 1-3, 0-1.

STAC jumped out to an early 7-2 lead on an Eli Maravich three-pointer, but UDC responded with a 20-8 outburst to grab a 22-15 lead with eight minutes left in the first half. The Spartans drew back to within one point but a Quasim Jones jumper at the buzzer staked the visitors to a 31-28 halftime lead.

That set the stage for a back-and-forth struggle early in the second stanza, with the lead changing hands on several occasions. With the score tied at 37-37 with under 13 minutes left, Alshula Odongo's layup broked the deadlock and set the Spartans off on a 16-4 run, with seven of those points coming from Watler, making the score 53-41.

With a lead under their belts, the hosts traded baskets with the Firebirds unable to make a substantial run, maintaining the lead of a dozen points at 66-54 with two minutes to play. While UDC posted nine of the final 10 points to make the final score close, the Spartans were never seriously threatened down the stretch.

Watler also added six assists and three steals to his solid all-around performance, while Aaron Cust added 10 points for the Spartans and Matt Darnell pulled down seven rebounds. Lenjo Kilo paced the Firebirds with 16 points and a game-high 13 boards, with teammate Omar Abbas adding 12 points.

The Spartans return to action to play their season-opening fifth straight game at Aquinas Hall on Tuesday, November 26, when rival Nyack College pays a call with tip-off set for 7:00 pm. They then resume their ECC schedule on Saturday, November 30 against Mercy College in a 2:30 pm start.