The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team meets the College of Saint Rose for the NCAA Division II Tournament East Regional title at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY.
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For Full Schedule, Tickets and More Info, Click Here for East Region Central
For Highlights of Sunday's Win over Merrimack, Click Here
The Match-Up – This is the second all-time meeting between St. Thomas Aquinas (27-5) and Saint Rose, with the other coming on November 15, 2005, resulting in a 73-59 Golden Knights home victory. Worth a note – Tobin Anderson's first scrimmage as Head Coach at STAC in 2013 was against the Golden Knights.
Saint Rose (26-7) comes in with the #3 seed. After falling to Southern New Hampshire in the second round of the Northeast-10 tourney, they stormed into Syracuse, winning their two games by an average of 28 each. On Saturday, they beat #6 Bloomfield, 94-58, and took out #7 Southern Connecticut, 67-47 on Sunday. The Golden Knights are a balanced squad, boasting four scorers averaging double-figures – Mical-Ryan Boyd, Tyler Sayre, Julian Lipinsky, and Chris Dorgler – each of whom has started all 33 games this season.
After dispatching the Northeast-10 Tournament champs St. Anselm, 91-72 on Saturday, the Spartans outlasted Merrimack on Sunday in a 73-70 squeeker. Justin Reyes has lived up to his ECC Player of the Year status with 56 points and 26 rebounds for the #5 seeded Spartans, who have advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.
Crazy Eight – STAC enters today's game with an 8-game winning streak and 17-of-18 overall, They have now had win streaks of 10, nine, and eight games this season. The Spartans were nationally ranked for much of the season, ascending as high as the #3 slot in the NABC Coaches' Poll.
What's at Stake? - The winner claims the East Region championship and advances to the Elite Eight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, taking on the winner of Tuesday's Midwest Region final between #1 Bellarmine and #6 Findlay in Louisville, Kentucky Correction - teams will be reseeded at the Elite Eight, so opponent is To Be Determined. That national quarter-final game will be played on March 22, with the eventual National Championship decided on March 25 at 3:00 pm, in a game nationally-televised on CBS Sports.
Fran's (Still) a Fan - ESPN hoops analyst and former Division I coach Fran Fraschilla was the featured speaker at STAC's Basketball Tip-off Dinner on October 20, 2016, at the Rockland Country Club. In his prepared remarks, Fraschilla expressed his admiration for Coach Tobin Anderson and the Spartans program, and he has continued that support during the season, including texting Anderson on NCAA Selection Sunday. Yesterday, he added this tweet:"Wow! My boys @STACBasketball are 1 win away from D-2's Elite 8 in Sioux Falls, SD. Must get by St.Rose Tuesday night. Good luck Spartans!"
Not So "Neutral" – The Spartans were 4-1 on neutral hardwood a season ago, and are now 4-0 this year, with their previous two wins coming at the University of Bridgeport in last weekend's East Coast Conference Tournament.
3-for-1,000 – In the lengthy history of the STAC men's basketball program, which includes its powerhouse tenure in the NAIA, only 30 players have hit the 1,000 point career plateau. Three of them are in uniform today, with Watler (1,817), Reyes (1,483), and Cust (1,058) each hitting the mark over the past two seasons.
Common Opponents - Against common opponents on this season's schedule, Saint Rose carries a 10-4 overall record, while STAC comes in at 13-2. The Golden Knights were 2-0 against ECC opponents (Molloy, Daemen), with the Spartans sporting a 6-0 mark against NE-10 foes (St. Michael's, New Haven, Stonehill, Southern New Hampshire, St. Anselm, Merrimack).
Happy New Year(s) – Over the past two seasons, STAC has been a more-than-respectable 18-7 in games played from the start of the season through December 31st. Since January 1, however, they are an amazing 37-3, including a loss on January 4 of this season. Record by Months: November/December – 18-7. January – 16-1. February – 14-1. March – 7-1 (all post-season). Those three losses were by a combined eight points.
Playoff History – This is the Spartans' second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. They have been in each of the previous four ECC Tournament finals, falling to Bridgeport in 2014 and '15, before defeating Daemen last year and Molloy this season for back-to-back titles. In the NCAAs last season, STAC won its opener against Southern Connecticut before falling to St. Anselm in the semi-finals. After this weekend's wins, STAC now stands at 3-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament action.