The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team came through with an 82-69 victory against NYIT in an East Coast Conference showdown at Aquinas Hall. Chaz Watler tied a career-high with 27 points as STAC improved to 7-7 overall and 4-1 in ECC action, dropping  NYIT to 3-9, 0-4.

Each team took turns with the lead early, as the score was deadlocked at 15-15 after eight minutes of action. STAC utilized an 11-2 run to open a 26-17 advantage, and Justin Reyes finished the half by following his own missed shot with a thunderous dunk to send the Spartans off the floor with a 45-29 lead.

Shaq McFarlan's driving layup with under 15 minutes to play opened the gap to 58-38, but the Bears would show life with a 13-1 run to cut the margin to 59-51. That was as close as the visitors would get, however, as Watler stood out during a decisive stretch drive to secure the victory.

Reyes added 18 points and James Mitchell chipped in with 17 for the Spartans, while Khalif Chaplin kept NYIT in the contest with 26 points. STAC's defense was a key to the evening, with 16 steals as part of the visitors' 23 turnovers.

The Spartans travel to LIU-Post for another ECC battle on Saturday, January 10 before returning to Aquinas Hall to host Daemen College on Friday, January 16. The men's game will be the back end of a double-header, with women's action beginning at 6:00 pm, followed by the men's game at approximately 8:00 pm.