The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team, now ranked #6 in both weekly national polls, cruised to a 96-65 East Coast Conference victory over Roberts Wesleyan College at Aquinas Hall. The Spartans have now won 24 consecutive regular season games and 13 straight overall at home, improving to 6-0, 1-0 on the season while dropping RWC to 0-6, 0-2.

In weekly rankings released yesterday, St. Thomas Aquinas retained its #6 slot in the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) poll, while moving up one slot in the D2SIDA (Division II Sports Information Directors Association) rankings, also occupying the #6 position.

Shaq McFarlan led four Spartans in double-figures with 19 points, with Justin Reyes and James Mitchell posting 16 each and Jon Lawton adding 12. Quinn Carey and Malik Dare set the pace for the Redhawks with 14 points each.

Chaz Watler and Reyes scored four points each in an early 8-0 run to give STAC a 10-3 lead. Lawton struck for five straight points to put the icing on a 12-2 burst to make the lead 25-12 past the midway pooint of the half. Zack Panebianco hit a three in the midst of a 12-0 Redhawks run to draw within 34-27, and the Spartans retained a 41-31 lead at halftime.

Dwayne Roberts kept the Redhawks within striking distance at 53-39 with just under 12 minutes to play, but Dan Wilson hit a pair of buckets in an 18-6 burst, giving STAC a 74-47 lead with 6:30 remaining, more than enough to seal the victory. The Spartans shot an impressive 61% from the field (40-66), while the defense held RWC to 36% (21-52) while forcing 24 turnovers.

The Spartans will play their next two on the road, big ECC challenges at Molloy College on Saturday, December 3, and LIU Post on Wednesday, December 7, before returning home. STAC will host NYIT on Saturday, December 10, with game time at approximately 3:00 pm as the back end of a double-header following the women's teams.