The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team held on for a 65-55 victory over Mercy College in an East Coast Conference contest at Aquinas Hall. Four Spartans notched double-figures in a balanced attack as STAC won its third straight to improve to 10-8 overall and 7-2 in ECC action. Mercy dropped to 7-9, 1-8 with the loss.

With one game to play in the first half of the conference schedule, the Spartans remain in third place in the standings, just one-half game behind both Daemen and Bridgeport for first. Click here for the latest ECC standings.

Both offenses struggled early, with each team playing its third game in five days. At the midway point of the first half, STAC enjoyed a narrow 15-14 lead. Despite the game being even most of the way, the Spartans ripped off a 15-3 run in the late minutes of the half, leading by as many as 13 points before settling for a 32-21 lead at the break.

Mercy made an early bid to get back in the game with the second half's first four points to cut the gap to 32-25, but an 18-7 run by the hosts appeared to put the game out of reach, with STAC leading by as many as 19 points at 54-35 with eight minutes to play.

Despite the deficit, the Mavericks continued to battle and controled the offensive glass, touching off an amazing 18-2 run over the next six minutes. Three free throws by Jason Quijada brought the visitors to within 56-53 with 1:16 remaining, but Chaz Watler hit a pair of big free throws and Marcus Henderson followed with a three-pointer from the left corner, helping the Spartans hold off the charge.

Watler (11 points), Alusuhula Odongo (10), Justin Reyes (10) and Aaron Cust (10) distributed the offense in a game in which STAC received contributions from nearly every player. Mercy's Gerald McClease led all scorers with 16 points and the Mavericks dominated the glass with a 48-31 rebounding margin, including 24 offensive caroms despite the loss.

The Spartans play their next two games on the road, starting on Thursday, January 22 with a trip to play the University of the District of Columbia. They will travel to the University of Bridgeport on Wednesday, January 28, before returing to Aquinas Hall to host Dowling College in a 3:00 pm start on Saturday, January 31.