Preview: #1 Seed Spartans Look to Return to Finals in Showdown with #5 Caldwell

Final	1	2	T
Caldwell (6-5,3-3 CACC)	39	33	72
St. Thomas Aquinas (14-1,10-1 ECC)	54	41	95

Game Leaders

Caldwell

Pts: 2 Players (#01, #10) - 21

Reb: Anthony Cooper - 8

Ast: Daniel Dade Jr. - 4

St. Thomas Aquinas

Pts: Osbel Caraballo - 24

Reb: Elijah Bovell - 10

Ast: Demetre Roberts - 6

Team Stats

Caldwell

St. Thomas Aquinas

Field Goals

(19-50)

(40-84)

Field Goal %

38.0%

47.6%

Rebounds

Assists

Turnovers

Pts off Turnovers

2nd Chance Pts

Pts in the Paint

Fastbreak Pts

Bench Pts

full stats

Posted: Mar 13, 2021

The #1 seed St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team takes on Caldwell University on Sunday at 6:00 pm in the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II Tournament East Regional at the Albany Capital Center in Albany, NY.

======================================================

Click Here for East Region Tournament Central

How They Got Here - As the field dwindles for the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, the Spartans make their fourth trip to the East semi-finals in search of their third Championship Game appearance in four tournament seasons. With the field reduced to 48 teams from the usual 64, STAC earned a first-round bye as the top seed on the strength of their 13-1 record this season. Caldwell University took the #5 seed and built an 18-point first half lead before holding on for a 65-62 victory over #4 Dominican College, who came up short in their bid for a rematch of last year's canceled regional quarter-final vs. STAC.

The Match-Up - Despite being separated by less than 40 miles, this is not only the first post-season match-up between STAC and the contingent from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, but the first time the teams have met since February 18, 2012, a 74-66 home victory for the Cougars. In Saturday's tight win, CU was led by Anthony Cooper (17 points, 10 rebounds), Daniel Dade, Jr. (16 points), and Gerald Blount (10 points). Cooper averaged 19.8 ppg to lead the Cougars during the regular season, followed by Dade, Jr. (14.9 ppg), and Manley Dorme (10.8 ppg). St. Thomas Aquinas is led by First Team All-ECC selections Grant Singleton (17.3 ppg, ECC Tournament MVP), Osbel Caraballo (15.8 ppg), and Demetre Roberts (14.9 ppg), in addition to ECC Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Lynch.

Spartans in the Post-Season – The Spartans have advanced to the ECC Finals in seven of Coach Tobin Anderson’s past eight seasons, with five Tournament Championships in the past six seasons; the only ones in program history. In the Division II era, STAC is 15-7 in playoff competition (all in the past eight years under Anderson), with a 13-3 mark (including 10 wins in their last 11 postseason games) in ECC Tournament action, 6-3 in NCAA East Regional play, and 0-1 at the Elite Eight. Tonight’s game is only STAC’s third NCAA Tournament meeting against a CACC foe with a quarter-final loss to Bloomfield in 2018 and an overtime victory in the semis against Dominican in 2019.

What's Next? - The winner of this evening's game will advance to Tuesday's East Regional Championship Game to square off with the winner of tonight's late game between #2 Daemen College and #3 Bloomfield College; Daemen received a first round bye while Bloomfield cruised to a 71-58 win over #6 Nyack College.