The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team secured a berth in the East Coast Conference Tournament finals with a convincing 85-58 victory over LIU Post at the University of the District of Columbia. The victory was the 19th straight for the regular season champs, as STAC improves to 25-4 on the season while dropping the Pioneers to 18-12 to end the season.

STAC will play the winner of the second semi-final, featuring #2 Daemen College vs #6 Mercy College, for the conference crown. That game will tip off at 2:30 pm on Sunday, March 6. This marks the third straight season that the Spartans will participate in the conference tournament final, and also the third consecutive season the LIU Post has been ousted by St. Thomas Aquinas.

*** Update*** - STAC will play #2 seed Daemen College after the Wildcats outlasted #6 Mercy College, 103-102 in overtime.

James Mitchell got the ball rolling with a quick three-pointer, but Greg Dotson scored six straight Pioneer points to give his team an early 8-6 edge. Aaron Cust hit a pair of hoops in a 6-0 Spartan run, but Jared Hall staked Post to a 13-12 lead with 13:19 left in the half.

After Akosa Maduebugnum's trey knotted the score at 16-16 with 11:22 left, STAC went on to a 7-2 run to grab a lead they would not relinquish. While the Pioneers kept the game close at 32-28 with 3:33 left, the Spartans tenacious defense and three-pointers from Jon Lawton and Aaron Cust keyed a 9-0 run, and STAC carried a 45-32 cushion into halftime.

A flagrant foul early in the second half sent Chaz Watler to the line, where he made a pair of free throws, and Jon Lawton hit a jumper to open a 49-32 chasm just 1:10 into the second session. That was the start of a 10-3 run, as the Spartans took a 20-point lead at 55-55.

Post showed signs of life with Michael Phillip's putback cutting the margin to 57-43, but Shaq McFarlan answered and the Spartans were never threatened from there.

Watler led a balanced offense with 15 points for the Spartans, joined in double-figures by Lawton (13), McFarlan (11) and Justin Reyes (10). Dotson was the leader for Post with a game-high 19 points, while Jared Hall chipped in 13. St. Thomas Aquinas narrowly won the rebound battle by a 34-33 count, but forced 24 Pioneer turnovers while yielding just 12.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information

- Photo by Dorice Arden