The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team saw its post-season run come to a close with a 74-49 loss to St. Anselm College in the NCAA Tournament East Region Final at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium in Manchester, New Hampshire. The Spartans' season comes to a close with a 25-7 record while St. Anselm improves to 25-5 and advances to the Elite Eight.
A raucous ovation from a packed hose set the tone before the opening tip. Kam Murrell - the team's only senior, broke the seal on the scoring from deep to put STAC on top early. After an early exchange of leads, St. Anselm went on the first run of the night, with Chris Paul, Cody Ball and Danny Evans posting four points each in a 14-0 run, giving the Hawks a 23-11 lead with under nine minutes left in the half. St. A's committed just one foul over nearly the first 14 minutes of play while building a 27-14 lead, but consecutive buckets from Jamar Sudan and Kevin Lynch got the Spartans back within single-digits.
St. Anselm answered with five straight, as a three from Ball opened a 32-18 gap, and poor perimeter shooting plagued the Spartans, as a late Demetre Roberts jumper improved the total to 32% on 10-for-31 shooting, adding up to a 39-22 halftime deficit. The shooting woes continued as STAC went 0-for-6 from the field was held scoreless for the first 5:20 of the second half as an 8-0 Hawks run opened a 47-22 lead that would prove to be insurmountable.
Osbel Caraballo and Jamar Sudan led the stagnant Spartan offense with eight points each, while Cody Paul, Tim Guers and Chris Ball posted 16 each for the Hawks.
Tim Guers of St. Anselm was named the regional's Most Outstanding Player, while Demetre Roberts represented the Spartans on the All-Regional Team.
All-Regional Team
Tim Guers - St. Anselm (Most Outstanding Player)
Roy Kane Jr. - New Haven
Ian Gardener - Dominican
Demetre Roberts - STAC
Cody Ball - St. Anselm
Saturday, March 16 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #6 Saint Thomas Aquinas 61, #3 Le Moyne 59
Game 2: #7 Dominican 64, #2 Merrimack 50
Game 3: #1 Saint Anselm 81, #8 Molloy 71
Game 4: #4 New Haven 72, #5 Daemen 67
Sunday, March 17 - Semifinals
Game 5: St. Thomas Aquinas 86, Dominican 83 (OT)
Game 6: St. Anselm 70, New Haven 69
Tuesday, March 19 - Championship
Game 7: St. Anselm 74, St. Thomas Aquinas 49