The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team won it's third straight, cruising to an 85-66 East Coast Conference victory at Daemen College. Justin Reyes led the Spartans with 25 points and 19 rebounds as his team improved to 9-4 overall and 3-2 in conference action, dropping Daemen to 5-6, 1-3.

Perhaps the most decisive moments in the contest came over the first eight minutes, during which Reyes posted seven points in staking STAC to an early 18-5 lead. The Wildcats would bring their deficit to single-digits twice thereafter, the last time coming on Arif Mehmeta's bucket midway through the half to trim the margin to 20-11.

James Mitchell quickly answered with a three, and Jonathan Lawton added a pair of his own in an 11-2 burst, opening the gap to 31-13. An Adam Koziol hoop from downtown extended the Spartan dominance to 40-19 with 3:38 left in the half, and the visitors entered halftime with a comfortable 46-27 lead.

While Daemen did perform better in the second half, the game was never seriously in doubt from that point, with STAC's lead never being trimmed below 17 while ballooning to as high as 24 points.

James Mitchell, Chaz Watler, and Shaq McFarlan all chipped in with 11 points each, but the story was Reyes, whose dominating performance off the glass, carried STAC to a 44-27 cushion in the carom category. Daemen's Torrence Dyck led all scorers with 27 points, but the Spartans carried the play from the field, shooting 57% (35-of-62) while holding the hosts to just 39% (24-of-62).

The Spartans will continue their road trip with a 4:00 pm ECC tilt at Roberts Wesleyan College on Saturday, before traveling to face Mercy College on Tuesday, January 12. They will return to Aquinas Hall to meet the University of the District of Columbia at 8:00 pm as the back end of a double-header with the women's teams on Thursday, January 14.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information

- Photo by Dorice Arden