The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team meets St. Anselm College at the NCAA Tournament in Syracuse, NY.
9:12 - It's ALL OVER! The Spartans advance to the East Region Semi-Finals for the second straight season with a 91-72 victory over St. Anselm. They will play #8 Merrimack at 7:30 Sunday night.
9:03 - Reyes hits the 30 point mark on a thunderous dunk, beautiful feed from Watler. The Spartans think they've forced a turnover, but a foul is called on Mitchell, his 5th. Media timeout, 83-63 with 3:32 left.
9:01 - Hawks trying to make a run but Guers and Chris Braley have both fouled out. de Courtenay draws a hard charge, STAC ball with 4:43 left, up 81-61. Spartans starting to use the clock.
8:57 - Koziol remains sharp with another from deep, Taggert answers for St. A's but STAC leads, 79-59 with 5:10 left.
8:49 - Simply spectacular. Off a Watler miss, Reyes soars for the board, back-rims the shot, gets another rebound and is fouled for an "and-one," 71-50 STAC with under 9:00 left.
8:47 - Reyes hits a pair - he has been a force with 24 points, 12 boards, three assists, three steals and two blocks (credited, that deserves an investigation). STAC 68-45.
8:42 - Mitchell picks up his 4th going for the steal in full court pressure, media timeout with 11:18 left, 65-41. Hawks just 5-for-23 (22%) from deep, not helping their cause.
8:40 - Reyes hits a three as the shot clock expires, refs will take a look at the replay with 12:01 left. It counts - 63-41 Spartans on top.
8:35 - The Spartan Army has much to cheer as Koziol hits another three out of the time out, and Reyes has another block. Largest lead of the game, 58-38.
8:34 - Much of the crowd had left following host LeMoyne's loss, but vocal contingents are on hand to support both STAC and St. A's. Guess which fans are louder?
8:33 - Cust is tabbed with his third foul but Reyes scores to make the gap 53-36 at the media time out, 15:05 left.
8:30 - The teams trade threes, with James Mitchell hitting for STAC. Watler is whisteled for his third foul. 17:23 left, 49-36 STAC
8:26 - Justin Reyes leads all scorers with 14 points at half, with Adam Koziol next with nine. Harrison Taggart leads St. Anselm with seven. Teams are on the floor, winner faces #8 Merrimack tomorrow night at 7:30 pm.
8:11 - Tim Guers hits a three for St. Anselm in the final minute, Cust picks up his second with a charge, and Cody Ball hits another three, closing the gap to 44-31 at halftime.
8:08 - Cust hits two straight, St. A's is beginning to have some success down low, Capell calls a 30 after the made field goal, 1:23 left, StAC 43-25.
8:02 - STAC's shooting has cooled off, but the defense continues to play tight and a pair of Reyes hoops makes the score 37-21, 3:20 to go. Fouls are 8-3, acting Coach Matt Capell has a word for the officials at the media break.
7:56 - Spotty WiFi connection, trying to work through it... Koziol hits two more threes, Spartan defense is tough to beat, 33-17 STAC, media timout, 5:56 left.
7:49 - Media timeout, all five fouls to this point have been called on STAC, but the Spartans hold a 23-11 lead on a deCourtenay lay up, and a pair of spectcaular blocks by Justin Reyes has the large Spartan Army contingent making noise. 11:13 left in the 1st.
7:46 - Koziol nets a trey and the Spartan defense forces turnovers, Hawks cold from the perimeter. 12:49 left, STAC 21-11.
7:43 - Chaz Watler hits his second three, Justin Reyes hits a pair of field goals as the Spartans lead, 18-11. Watler draws his second foul and goes to the bench with 14:28 left in the half.
7:42 - Scoreboard difficulties causing brief delay. In earlier quarter-final action today, #3 St. Rose defeated #3 Bloomfield, and #7 Southern Connecticut upset #2 Southern New Hampshire, those teams will meet at 5:00 pm tomorrow. The winner of the STAC-St. Anselm game will face #8 Merrimack, which upset host LeMoyne in overtime.
7:39 pm - We're up and running after some technical difficulties. Spartans off to a strong start from the perimeter. Media timeout with 15:54 left in the 1st half, Spartans lead 15-9.