The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team dropped a 75-66 East Coast Conference battle to LIU Post at Aquinas Hall,, despite Chaz Watler's game-high 23 points. With the loss, STAC dropped to 6-4 overall and 2-2 in ECC play, while Post improved to 9-2 while retaining a perfect 4-0 conference mark.

In a game of wild swings, the visitors broke on top thanks to an early outburst by Greg Dotson, and Bryant Webb's three-pointer put LIU Post on top at 23-11 after just eight minutes of play.

Foul trouble would take its toll on Post and the Spartans would take full advantage, with Justin Reyes recording seven straight points in a 14-0 run to put the hosts in the lead at 25-23. A trey from Watler with under three left in the half expanded the gap to to 39-31, and STAC carried a 41-35 advantage into the break.

As they did in the first half, the Pioneers bolted quickly from the gate, with Jared Hall posting 10 points in a 19-3 outburst, shifting the lead to Post at 54-43 just six minutes in. Once again it was STAC's turn to punch back, with Adam Koziol's three-pointer as the exclamation point on a 15-2 run, giving the Spartans a 58-56 lead midway through the session.

With STAC holding a 64-63 edge with just under five minutes on the clock, Dotson would take charge with five straight points that would give his Pioneers the lead for good, with a final 12-2 run closing out the scoring.

Reyes added 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds with Shaq McFarlan recording 12 points for St. Thomas Aquinas. Dotson paced Post with 21 points, while Hall recorded 14 for the victors.

The Spartans will now have a schedule break before closing out the calendar year at Bloomfield College with a 1:00 start on Thursday, December 31. They will then start the new year quickly, hosting Georgian Court on Saturday, January 2, 2016, at 2:00 pm at Aquinas Hall.

The St. Thomas Aquinas College Department of Athletics would like to thank the community for its support throughout the year, and wish you and yours a safe, happy and healthy Holiday Season!

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information