The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team held off a tough Goldey-Beacom College squad for a 93-86 victory in the opener of the Dominican Tournament. Shaq McFarlan and James Mitchell led four Spartans in double-figures with 21 points each STAC improves to 3-1 on the season. Goldey dropped to 0-3 despite Shakeem Wilson's game-high 28.

Wilson gave the Lightning an early 12-11 edge by converting a three-shot foul, but a Jonathan Lawton trey put STAC back on top quickly. McFarlan would then go on a tear, scoring seven of the Spartans' next 13 points, capping a 16-3 run to open a 27-15 lead midway through the first half.

Goldey-Beacom would settle into its defense, however, with Elijah Tillman starting a 10-0 run over the next three and a half minutes to trim the gap to 27-25. GBC would tie the game on two occasions, but Chaz Watler would break the drought single-handedly by scoring 12 straight points for his squad as the Spartans held a 41-38 lead at halftime.

Wilson would again briefly give his team a lead from downtown at 44-43, but James Mitchell answered with a trey of his own to put STAC back up a pair. The Spartans maintained the lead but were not able to get it over the five-point plateau until Lawton and Watler hit consecutive three-pointers, turning a two-point game into a 72-64 lead with 5:34 to go. The Spartans would seal the deal at the foul line, draining nine-of-10 in the final two minutes of play.

Watler ended with 19 points and Lawton totaled 16, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, while Justin Reyes led STAC with nine rebounds. Sameen Swint added 16 and Daniel Cooper 14 for Goldey-Beacom. The Spartans were hot from the field, shooting 52% (33-63) and 50% from deep (10-20), while adding an impressive 90% (17-19) from the free throw line. STAC also owned the boards by a 36-25 margin.

The Spartans return to action tomorrow, Saturday, November 21, taking on host Dominican College in an 8:00 pm start.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information