The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team clinched its first regular season title with a 99-78 win against University of the District of Columbia in an East Coast Conference match up. The Spartans have a bye into the ECC Tourney semi-finals on Saturday, March 7. STAC improves to 20-10 overall and 17-3 in the ECC, dropping UDC to 5-23, 5-15.

St. Thomas Aquinas has officially clinched the #1 seed and earned a bye into the semi-finals of the ECC Tournament, which starts on Wednesday, March 4. The winners of the two first-round contests (pairings to be determined) will advance to the semis, which will be held on Saturday, March 7 at LIU Post, with the tournament final to take place the following day.

The ECC Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament.

With Bridgeport having won earlier in the day, the Spartans required a win on their home floor to capture the title and the outcome was not in doubt for long. A 7-0 run put STAC in an early 17-8 lead, a later 10-2 burst gave the hosts a 32-15 advantage with less than 10 minutes elapsed. A pair of Jules de Courtenay free throws closed out the half with St. Thomas Aquinas enjoying a commanding 58-29 cushion.

That advantage would only increase after the break, ballooning to as much as 84-49 with seven minutes remaining, and the countdown was on. The Firebirds ran off the next 17 points, but the Spartans were never threatened as the home crowd celebrated the program's historic victory.

Seven different Spartans recorded double-figures in the trademark balanced attack. Four-year senior Alushula Odongo's home finale was fitting, with a game-high 16 points, with Justin Reyes (13), Chaz Watler (11), Aaron Cust (11), de Courtenay (11), Shaq McFarlan (11) and James Mitchell (10) joining the onslaught. Geran Pope and Michael Terry posted 15 each for UDC, with Pope corraling a game-high 15 rebounds.

STAC shot an impressive 60% from the field (33-55) while holding the visitors to just 33% (26-79).