Despite a tough Western New York road trip which saw the Spartans fall to both Daemen College (82-79/OT) and Roberts Wesleyan College (71-65), the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team remained in the top 25 (#25) in all of Division II Men's Basketball according to the latest national poll released on Tuesday afternoon by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). This week's ranking marks the ninth consecutive week that STAC has appeared in the NABC Top 25 (2018-19 STAC NABC Ranking History: 23rd, 18th, 23rd, 21st, 18th, 19th, 14th, 12th & 25th).
The 15-4 Spartans are currently being led by freshmen Osbel Caraballo (Forward/Bolivar, Venezuela) - averaging 13.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest and Demetre Roberts (Guard/Mount Vernon, NY) - averaging 12.4 points and 2.4 assists per game, while senior Kameron Murrell (Guard/Long Beach, CA) - averaging 11.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game and junior Sekou Cisse (Forward/Harlem, NY) - averaging 10.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, lead the way for the upperclassmen.
The team's offense currently averages 80.3 points scored per game, while their defense surrenders an average of 73.8 points per game.
St. Thomas Aquinas look to get back on the winning track in the friendly confines of Aquinas Hall, returning home to start the second half of the conference slate against Mercy College. The game is the back end of a double-header and will start at approximately 7:30pm, following the women's teams clashing in a 5:30pm start.