The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team opens the 2019-20 post-season with a showdown against #3 seeded Daemen on Saturday night at 7:30 pm at the University of the District of Columbia.
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For More Information, visit ECC Men's Basketballl Championship Central
The Teams - St. Thomas Aquinas College - The #2 seeded Spartans received a first-round bye and enter tournament play with a record of 23-5 overall, 13-3 in the ECC, looking to reclaim the ECC Tournament title after their string of three straight championships was snapped in a tough one-point loss to eventual champ Molloy last season. Three Spartans punctuated the All-Conference awards, with Osbel Caraballo (16.8 ppg), and Demetre Roberts (15.2 ppg) taking First Team honors and Sekou Cisse (14.5 ppg) named to the Third Team. STAC once again prospered at both ends of the floor, standing third in the conference in team scoring and first in defense.
The Teams - Daemen - The #3 seeded Wildcats (24-7, 12-4) advanced to the semis on the strength of Wednesday's 90-76 home victory over Queens. Not surprisingly, two-time ECC Player of the Year was the dominant force for Daemen with an incredible 47 point, 15 rebound explosion, and he leads the conference with 25.0 ppg while standing second in rebounds with 11.5. Breon Harris (12.9 ppg), Jeff Redband (12.9 ppg) and Joey Wallace (12.2 ppg) contribute to a deep lineup as the Wildcats currently rank second in both team scoring and defense.
NCAA Rankings - The Spartans enter the post-season as the #2 ranked team in the East per official NCAA rankings, trailing only ECC foe Bridgeport. Eight teams from the East will qualify for the 64-team field at the NCAA Division II Tournament, with automatic bids being earned by champions from the ECC, Northeast-10, and Central Atlantic Collegiate conferences, and the other five awarded on an at-large basis. The Spartans are virtually assured of making their fifth straight NCAA appearance, while Daemen is ranked #7 and would be in jeopardy of falling short of their second straight regional appearance if they to not take the ECC title.
Season Series (Split, 1-1) - Dec 15, 2019, @STAC 87, @Daemen 80 - The first meeting of these squads saw the Spartans hold off a late charge by Daemen and a 30-point performance from Andrew Sischo, with Breon Harris adding 22. The winning recipe was balanced scoring, as five all five STAC starters registered double-figures, led by Roberts (23 pts), and Grant Singleton, Osbel Caraballo, Kevin Lynch, and Sekou Cisse chipping in 13 each.
February 14, 2020 - @Daemen 81, STAC 77 - In the rematch in Amherst, STAC grabbed a one-point lead with only 1:20 to go before the hosts rallied to earn the split. Breon Harris put Daemen in front to stay with a pair from the line as part of his team-high 20 points, with Sischo (19), Wallace (14), Jay Sarkis (12), and Jeff Redband (11) adding to the effort. Osbel Caraballo paced the Spartans with a game-high 21 points, as Roberts (16), Singleton (16), and Cisse (14) keeping STAC in the mix until the waning seconds.
What's Next? - The winner of this game will advance to the ECC Tournament Final on Sunday, March 8, at 2:30 pm at UDC. They will take on the winner of the Saturday 5:00 semi-final between #1 Bridgeport and #4 Molloy. Like STAC, Bridgeport earned a bye into the semis while Molloy advanced with a 68-61 home victory over New York Tech on Wednesday night.