The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team, ranked #6 in the nation, held off Dominican for an 83-72 victory in a non-conference battle at Aquinas Hall. The Spartans improved to 4-0 on the season while Dominican fell to 4-2. STAC received its #6 ranking in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, while placing #7 in the Division II Sports Information Directors' (D2SIDA) weekly poll.

Both teams struggled to find offense early, with STAC holding a 4-2 edge after three minutes of play before the hosts took off on an 18-9 run over the next six minutes to open a 22-11 lead. DJ Rodwell hit a trio of threes as the Chargers drew to within 35-31 with 2:57 to play in the first half, but STAC rebound for a 9-1 outburst capped by a pair of Reyes buckets and led, 44-34 at the break.

St. Thomas Aquinas forced three turnovers and started the second half with 9-0 run after just 1:06 of play, opening a 19-point gap at 53-34. A Jules de Courtenay lay-up with 14 minutes left brought the Spartans' lead to 64-43, but Rodwell was torrid from beyond the arc with another pair of three pointers and Gerrel Irvin hit three straight hoops in an 12-0 run to close the margin to 64-55 at the midway point of the half.

de Courtenay broke the run with a pair of baskets and STAC's defense found its stride and Peter Alkins' jumper was the exclamation point on the Spartans' 15-5 answer, giving the hosts a 79-60 lead from which they coasted to victory.

In addition to Reyes' 22 points, de Courtenay added a career-high 18, and Chaz Watler chipped in 14. Rodwell hit seven threes in a 22-point performance for the Chargers, shooting 7-of-10 from beyond the arc, while Irvin recorded 19. STAC forced 27 turnovers leading to a decisive 29-12 advantage in points off TOs.

The Spartans return to action on Sunday, November 27, when Stonehill College pays a visit to Aquinas Hall for a big East Regional showdown, with the game starting at 3:00 pm, after the conclusion of the women's game against Southern Connecticut State at 1:00 pm. STAC enters Sunday's game as the top-ranked team in the region while Stonehill ranks #6 in the East in this week's D2SIDA poll.