The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team makes its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. The Spartans (28-5) take the #7 seed into Wednesday night's action against #2 Northwest Missouri State (32-1) at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with tip set for 7:00 pm Eastern.
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The challenges become more steep for the St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team, but such is to be expected when you're one of eight teams remaining that are vying for a National Championship.
Certainly, the 2016-17 season has been the most successful in the program's Division II history by any measure. The Spartans met their goals of repeating as East Coast Conference Champs in both the regular season and the conference tournament. Their 28-5 record marks a new high for victories in the DII era, eclipsing last season's total of 27.
STAC has had three winning streaks of nine games or better this season, having won 18-of-19 entering the Elite Eight. And with victories over Molloy in the ECC Finals and Saint Rose at the East Regional Final, the Spartans already have added two cut nets to their trophy case.
But it has also not been easy, by any stretch.
Entering the season, the Spartans were ranked as high as #2 in the nation in the Sporting News preseason poll. No less than ESPN analyst and former Division I Coach Fran Fraschilla addressed the team at its Tipoff Dinner, encouraging them to embrace a "championship vision" for the season that included a national title. When the Spartans started the season by ripping off victories in their first 10 games, the National Association of Basketball Coaches elevated STAC to #3 in its national poll.
A narrow loss at the University of the District of Columbia snapped the streak before the holiday break, and the Spartans suddenly lost their swagger, dropping their next three straight to fall completely out of the national top 25.
Though they righted the ship by winning their next nine, the excitement was tempered somewhat by the loss of starter Jon Lawton, who went down with an injury in a January 25th win at Roberts Wesleyan. Originally thought to be day-to-day, last season's ECC Rookie of the Year continues to be nagged by the ailment and has not returned to action since.
Still, the Spartans charged on, unfazed by a frantic one-point loss at the University of Bridgeport on February 8. They reeled off wins in their final four regular season games by an average margin of over 27 per contest, taking home their third straight ECC Regular Season title.
And while they have won five straight in the postseason, even that has not been without challenge. In fact, the Spartans road to South Dakota was formed from the bedrock of several tests of their fortitude. Against Molloy, STAC trailed 80-79 with 1:21 left in regulation, but a Justin Reyes free throw sent the game to overtime, where their poise continued to shine in a 97-86 win.
Coach Tobin Anderson was unavailable for their first-round NCAA victory over St. Anselm, but the Spartans didn't miss a beat under interim Coach Matt Capell in a 91-72 win, avenging last season's NCAA elimination by the Hawks. The next night, Merrimack held a 69-68 lead with just over two minutes to play, but Reyes again came to the rescue with the next five Spartan points in a 73-70 triumph.
Even Mother Nature set out a hurdle for the Spartans, as Tuesday night's scheduled finale against Saint Rose was postponed until Wednesday afternoon due to blizzard conditions in the Syracuse region. And yet again, STAC's season was on the brink, with the Golden Knights holding a 62-60 advantage with under two minutes left. Who else but Reyes was on the spot, scoring the next five points in a 69-66 victory.
Indeed, Reyes was a big story of the weekend, averaging 27.3 points and 13 rebounds per game, scoring some of the biggest buckets of the season while earning Most Outstanding Player honors. But five other Spartans netted double figures at some point over the weekend - Chaz Watler, Shaq McFarlan, James Mitchell, Aaron Cust, and Adam Koziol - and with a system predicated on team tenacity, Coach Anderson has stated in no uncertain terms that every player has been crucial to the squad's success to this point.
Now, perhaps the biggest challenge to date looms on the Sioux Falls horizon. Northwest Missouri State enters the Elite Eight with a 32-1 record, the best in the country. Though they carry the #2 seed among the national finalists, they are considered by many to be the best team in the tournament, and were ranked #1 in the final NABC poll of the season.
This is the 17th all-time NCAA appearance for the Bearcats, and their 4th trip to the Elite Eight. Junior guard Justin Pitts was a force in leading his team to the Central Regional title, averaging no less than 32.3 points per game. And among the more intriguing factors of the impending match-up, NW Missouri has committed the third fewest turnovers per game in the nation in Division II, while the Spartans have forced the third most, a major test of both team's strengths.
In the end, it is just another hill to climb for the Spartans, steep though it may be. Adversity has become opportunity for this crew, and that is not likely to change as they stand just three wins from a National Championship.