The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team emerged with a 64-53 win in an East Coast Conference battle at Mercy College. Shaq McFarlan led the Spartans with 14 points as STAC improved to 19-10 overall and 16-3 in conference, with Mercy dropping to 7-18, 2-17.
Bridgeport kept pace with a 104-71 home victory over Dowling College, leaving St. Thomas Aquinas in first place by one-half game. Bridgeport plays Molloy on Thursday while the Spartans are idle and the Purple Knights end the regular season against at Queens while the Spartans finish with UDC on Saturday. Any combination of one STAC win or one Bridgeport loss would clinch STAC's first-ever regular season ECC championship.
St. Thomas Aquinas has already clinched a bye for the first round of the ECC Tournament, which will start at high seeds on Wednesday, March 4. The Spartans will play in the semi-finals on Saturday, March 7, and the winners will advance to the finals on Sunday, March 8, with all weekend action taking place at LIU Post. The ECC Tournament Champions receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament.
Mercy was determined to slow the pace from the outset and the Spartans' stifling defense helped build a 22-7 lead with just over eight minutes to play in half number one. The Mavericks would show signs of life in scoring the next seven points, eventually trimming the gap to 27-21 on a Terrance Murchie layup with 2:52 in the session.
STAC would score the next seven points and end the half in sparkling fashion, as Justin Reyes' fallaway three at the buzzer gave STAC a 34-21 halftime lead. That lead would grow to as many as 16 points, though the hosts remained in the contest. A pair of Chaz Watler free throws put the visitors up, 48-32 with 11:45 left in the game, but Jason Quijada's sharp shooting helped Mercy draw to 55-49 with 4:46 left.
That was as close as it would get, as five straight points from McFarlan keyed a 7-0 run that would put the game out of reach and allow the Spartans to take away the big win. Marcus Henderson added 11 points and Reyes had 10 for St. Thomas Aquinas, while Mercy's Quijada led all scorers with 23 points.
The Spartans close out the regular season on Saturday, February 28, when the University of the District of Columbia visits Aquinas Hall for a 3:30 pm start. The game will follow the 1:00 pm women's contest, and Senior Day ceremonies will be held before each game.