The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team had its win streak snapped at eight in a 78-76 East Coast Conference showdown at New York Institute of Technology. Darian Hooker's free throws with 0.3 seconds left spelled the difference. STAC falls to 15-9 overall and 12-3 in ECC play, with NYIT improving to 10-12, 7-7.
Despite the loss, St. Thomas Aquinas remains one-half game ahead of idle University of Bridgeport in first place in the ECC standings. Bridgeport hosts Roberts Wesleyan on Friday and Daemen on Saturday.
STAC bolted from the gate quickly, with Marcus Henderson's hot hand staking the visitors to an early 17-7 lead. A pair of Khalif Chaplin three-pointers got NYIT right back into the contest, but it was Hooker who was the leading force in the Bears' 38-35 halftime lead.
Tech jumped out to a 43-35 advantage early in the second half, with Jules de Courtenay hitting a jumper to cap an 8-0 run and put the Spartans ahead, 61-58 with seven minutes left. Though NYIT would rally to tie on several occasions, that was the last time STAC would trail until the contest's final second.
Justin Reyes hit a pair of free throws with 57 seconds left to put the Spartans in the lead at 76-74, but Hooker would answer just 13 seconds later to re-tie the score. With time winding down, Shaq McFarlan's three-point attempt was off the mark, giving the hosts one last shot with 6.1 seconds remaining.
Hooker's pump-fake drew a three-shot foul on Reyes, and the ECC's leading scorer converted two of the three with just 0.3 seconds remaining to seal his team's win.
Hooker, who was the national Division II Player of the Week after netting 43 in a win over Bridgeport, posted a game-high 37 for NYIT. Reyes led four Spartans in double-figures in scoring with 17 points, while Marcus Henderson added 12. STAC shot 82% from the line (14-17) and amazingly turned the ball over just five times the entire game, but it was not enough.
The Spartans return home for another big ECC showdown when LIU Post visits Aquinas Hall on Saturday, February 14. The women's game starts off the double-header action at 1:00, followed by the men's teams hitting the floor at 3:30.