The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team battled to a 77-75 overtime victory over Molloy College in an East Coast Conference tilt at Aquinas Hall. The Spartans, ranked #6 in this week's NCAA East Region poll, close the regular season with seven straight wins to improve to 23-5 overall and 15-3 in conference play. Molloy slips to 18-9, 14-4, taking the third seed in the upcoming ECC Tournament, where the Lions will host UDC on Wednesday night. STAC is currently in second place in the conference standings but could take the top seed if Daemen loses to Bridgeport on Sunday.
With much at stake heading into the contest, it more than lived up to expectations. Several lead changes punctuated the first 10 minutes of play, with the Lions holding a 23-20 edge on a Nick Corbett three-pointer. STAC's defense clamped down, holding the visitors without a point for over five minutes, while Zach Rzwenicki scored seven straight points in an 8-0 run and Jamar Sudan hitting a pair of jumpers as the hosts took a 36-29 lead into intermission.
It was Molloy turning up the defensive pressure in the second half, allowing just three points over a seven minute stretch as a Josh Dennis jumper gave the Lions a 46-45 advantage. STAC regained its footing and the lead again changed hands several times with neither team leading by more than two points until Curtis Jenkins converted from long range to give the Lions a 58-54 edge with 4:08 left.
Rzewnicki came up big again, posting a three-point play and hitting from long range to tie the game at 62-62 with 2:37 on the clock. Jenkins tried to will his team to victory, scoring the next five points to open a 67-62 cushion with 1:18 to play, but Demetre Roberts stroked a clutch three just six seconds later to bring STAC within a pair. Each team missed important free throws in the final minute but it was Kam Murrell - the Spartans' lone senior - who calmly stepped to the line to sink a game-tying pair with just 13 seconds left in regulation, and came up with a big defensive play in forcing a turnover with two seconds left to send the game to overtime.
A Jenkins jumper accounted for the only points through the first half of the extra session, but Kevin Lynch got his team even on a jump shot with 2:21 left. Sekou Cisse drilled a huge trey to make the score 72-69 with 1:24 to go but there was still ample excitement in store. Josh Dennis hit one-of-two from the stripe to again make it a two-point game with 52 seconds left. Cisse missed the front end of a one-and-one but Osbel Caraballo soared over Molloy's Mike Torre for the offensive rebound and the putback gave St. Thomas Aquinas a 74-70 edge with 51 seconds on the clock.
Once again, Jenkins kept his team alive with a quick jumper with 41 seconds to go. After a Molloy timeout, the Lions put on a fierce defensive stand with STAC not getting any good looks as the shot clock wound down. The ball ended up in Caraballo's hands and his desperation three from straight away found nothing but net, as the home crowd exploded from a 77-72 lead with 12 seconds to go. With time running down, Nick Corbett's three attempt was off the mark, but the long rebound found Jenkins, who scored the last three of his game-high 31 points with 1.7 left, but the Spartans were able to inbound and run out the clock to preserve the hard-fought triumph.
Lynch registered 18 points and 11 rebounds, Caraballo finished with 16, and Rzwenicki put up 13 for the Spartans, who were aided by Cisse's game-high 12 caroms. Corbett helped Jenkins keep Molloy close by chipping in 17 points.
Though the top two seedings still need to be determined, the six-team field for the ECC Tournament is now set, with #3 Molloy hosting #6 UDC, and #4 Bridgeport meeting #5 Roberts Wesleyan on Wednesday night. STAC and Daemen have earned first round byes and will play in the semis at the University of Bridgeport on Saturday, March 9, with time and pairings to be determined. The ECC Men's Championship will be decided on Sunday, March 10, with a 2:30 pm tip.