The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team captured a 78-65 East Coast Conference triumph at Queens College. The win was STAC's ninth straight, surpassing last season's eight-game tear while improving to 15-4 overall and 9-2 in ECC play. Queens fell to 5-10, 3-7 with the loss, as the Spartans gained sole possession of first place in the conference after Bridgeport's victory over LIU Post. STAC is now 9-2, Bridgeport is 7-2, and LIU Post stands at 8-3.
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Shaq McFarlan netted 15 of his 16 points in the final 15 minutes of the game to help his squad pull away, while Justin Reyes matched that game high of 16 (along with 11 rebounds) and Chaz Watler added 14 while Diego Maldonado led the Knights with 15.
James Mitchelll staked St. Thomas Aquinas to an early 12-6 lead with a pair of three-pointers, but Queens rode eight from Malcolm Moore and seven from Travis Whitfield to a 15-2 run, grabbing a 21-14 lead just past the midway point of the first half.
Chaz Watler would answer with eight of his own in a 17-2 Spartan uprising, making the score 31-23. A Watler trey in the waning seconds of the session sent STAC to the locker room with a 36-29 advantage.
Queens continued to hang around, with a pair of Maldonado free throws cutting the gap to 42-37 with 15:24 left before McFarlan, who had been quiet to that point, took charge. The sophomore scored the final eight points in an 11-0 STAC run, and the visitors would carry a double-digit lead most of the rest the way, culminating in a comfortable 72-51 cushion.
Largely on the strength of Reyes' glass-work, St. Thomas Aquinas held a convincing 39-27 rebounding edge. The Spartans were torrid from the floor, hitting 56% as a team (29-of-52), as well as hitting eight of 13 from beyond the arc (53%), while the Knights were held to just 41% (23-of-56) overall.
The Spartans travel to Molloy College for an ECC battle on Saturday, January 30, before returning to Aquinas Hall to face NYIT on Wednesday, February 3. That game will tip at approximately 8:00 pm, as the back end of a double-header with the women's teams starting at 6:00 pm.
- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information