The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team suffered a 75-64 setback. in a non-conference tilt at Stonehill College. Chaz Watler led STAC with 15 points but his team fell to 4-2 with the loss, while Stonehill improved to 5-1.

A trio of early hoopos from Jules deCourtenay staked the Spartans to an early 10-7 lead, and the visitors held a 21-19 lead on an Aaron Cust free throw with 9:33 to play in the first half. Stonehill would take charge from there, running off the next 17 straight points before cruising into halftime with a 42-29 lead.

That advantage would balloon to as many as 25 points on a pair of Ryan Logan hoops, giving the Skyhawks a 58-33 lead with 13 minutes left. STAC showed signs of life, embarking on a 13-1 run that would trim the gap to 59-46 with 8:57 left, but that was as close as it would get until the waning two minutes of play.

Justin Reyes added 14 points and Aaron Cust put in 11 for St. Thomas Aquinas, while Carter Smith posted a game-high 20 and Logan chipped in with 19 for Stonehill, which enjoyed a 42-34 rebounding edge on the afternoon.

The Spartans return to action on Tuesday, December 1, opening their East Coast Conference schedule against New York Institute of Technology. The game will be played at Barclay's Center - home of the Brooklyn Nets - with a 1:30 pm tipoff.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information