The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team will take the top seed into this weekend's East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. STAC meets #4 seed LIU Post in a 5:00 pm start in Saturdays semi-finals.
The Season - St. Thomas Aquinas College embarked on an ambitious schedule that included games against Division I schools Gonzaga and Stony Brook. The slow 2-5 start was only a stepping stone, however, with the Spartans running off an eight-game winning streak at one point, and clinching a share of the Regular Season Championship and the top seed with a 17-3 conference record. Their 20-10 overall mark is the highest win total in STAC's Division II era.
LIU Post enters Saturday's contest with an 18-12 record after posting an 11-9 conference mark, emerging from the logjam in the middle of the standings with the #4 seed. The Pioneers currently have the hot hand, having won three straight and five of their last six, with the added benefit of playing on their home court despite having the lower seed as Pratt Center was previously designated as the tournament host site..
The ECC Tournament - The top six teams in the ECC standings qualified for this year's tournament (Daemen was ineligible as a provisional member). In Wednesday's first round games at campus sites, LIU Post outlasted #5 Molloy for a 68-60 victory, while #6 Dowling pulled the upset at #3 NYIT, dropping the hosts in an 82-74 decision. Dowling will play #2 Bridgeport - which earned the other first round bye - at 7:30 pm. The winners will advance to the Tournament Final on Sunday, with tipoff slated for 2:30 pm, and the tourney champs will earn a bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
(For Full ECC Tournament Info, Click Here)
Previous Meetings - January 10, 2015 - @ LIU Post 68, STAC 62 (box score, recap)
STAC falls behind early and spends much of the afternoon clawing back. Jon McNair's trey in the final minute of regulation ties the score, but Chaz Watler misses a pair of free throws with four seconds left to send the game to overtime, and the hosts prevail. Watler leads the Spartans with 18 points while Tyuan Williams boosts the hosts with 20.
February 14, 2015 - @STAC 68, LIU Post 64 (box score, recap)
In another hard-fought struggle, the Spartans come from behind and this time get the job done, holding off Post in the final seconds. Watler records a game high 16 points, with Williams and Greg Dotson posting 15 each for the Pioneers, who help seal their own fate by going just 7-for-18 from the foul line.
What's Next? - The winner of the STAC-LIU Post game will take on the winner of the day's final contest featuring #2 Bridgeport and #6 Dowlling, in the conference championship. That game will also be played on Sunday, March 8, at 2:30 pm at the Pratt Recreation Center at LIU Post. The ECC Tournament Champions earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament.