The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team rode a dominant second half to a 103-71 East Coast Conference victory over Dowling College at Aquinas Hall. Chaz Watler led all scorers with 19 points as the first place Spartans improved to 13-8 overall and 10-2 in conference play, dropping Dowling to 8-11, 6-6.

Both teams battled through an early start, which saw Dowling's Ryan Hickey tie the score at 24-24 with eight minutes to play in the first half. Watler would take charge, reeling off three hoops for seven points in just over a minute to give the hosts their largest lead to that point. A driving layup by Watler in the final possession of the half gave STAC a 46-34 advantage.

Michael Guzzardi would bring the Golden Lions to within 46-36 with the first score of the second half, but the Spartans would have the answer, reeling off 18 points over a span of just over three minutes to blow the game open. In all, a 20-4 tidal wave opened a 66-40 STAC lead, and the visitors would not threaten, with the chasm opening to as many as 37 points before the final buzzer.

Watler added eight rebounds to his effort in just 23 minutes of play, with Shaq McFarlan (12 points), Justin Reyes (12 points, game-high nine rebounds), Sam Berlin (10) and Aaron Cust (10) providing the support in another all-around team performance. MiKing Richardson led Dowling with 17 points, one of five Golden Lions scorers in double-figures. STAC dominated the boards to the tune of a 48-23 rebounding edge, and turned the ball over just nine times in the contest to 15 for Dowling.

This evening's game was the first of four straight at home for the Spartans, who return to Aquinas Hall for a non-conference tilt with Bloomfield on Monday, February 2 at 2:00 pm. They will then host Queens College at 8:00 on Wednesday, February 4, before welcoming Molloy College on Saturday, February 7 at 3:30 pm.