The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team faces off against Daemen University in the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Final at Aquinas Hall Gymnasium in Sparkill at 2:30 pm on Sunday.
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For More Information, visit ECC Men's Basketball Championship Central
The Teams - St. Thomas Aquinas - The top-seeded Spartans (24-5, 14-2 ECC) advanced to the ECC Championship game for the fifth consecutive year and second under Head Coach Matt Capell. They advanced on the strength of James Patterson's 22-point performance in Saturday's 79-71 victory over #4 seeded Roberts Wesleyan University. The Spartans punctuated the All-Conference awards, with James Patterson (23.8 ppg & 8.4 rpg) earning Player of the Year honors and First Team accolades, while both Rich Smith (9.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg & 5.4 apg) and Kyle Pulliam (13.9 ppg) took home Second Team kudos. STAC possesses the best offense in the ECC, scoring 92.0 points per game and the fourth best defense, allowing only 80.3 points per contest.
The Teams - Daemen - The #3 seeded Wildcats (24-7, 12-4 ECC) buzzed its way to a 68-56 semifinal victory over #2 College of Staten Island. Dylan Fasoyiro led the way for Daemen with 23 points and averages 17.2 points per game. Joey Atkins (12.4 ppg & 7.4 rpg), Justin Glover (12.1 ppg & 3.5 apg), Justin Hemphill (10.9 ppg & 7.9 rpg), Andrew Mason (10.8 ppg) and Nick MacDonald (10.7 ppg) contribute to a deep lineup as the Wildcats currently rank second in team scoring (82.6 ppg) and first in defense (71.2 ppg).
NCAA Rankings - The Spartans enter the post-season as the #2 ranked team, while Daemen holds the #4 position in the East per official NCAA rankings. 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.
Season Series (Split 1-1):
January 19, 2023, @STAC 92, Daemen 82 - STAC held off a late charge by the Wildcats to take the first matchup at Aquinas Hall. James Patterson led all scorers with a game-high 27 points, along with 11 rebounds, while Kyle Pulliam (24 points) and Rich Smith (11 points) also scored in double figures. Nick MacDonald paced the Daemen offense with 16 points, as teammates Zach Philipkoski (14 points), Joey Atkins (13 points) and Josh Haskell (12 points) also posted double-digit point totals.
February 16, 2024 - @Daemen 87, STAC 82 - In the series finale at Lumsden Gymnasium, STAC suffered its second straight setback, despite scoring 51 first half points. Dylan Fasoyiro led the Wildcats with 23 points, while Joey Atkins (15 points), Andrew Mason (14 points) and Justin Glover (14 points) helped add to the totals scoreboard for the hosts. Meanwhile, Kyle Pulliam recorded a game-high 30 points for the Spartans, while James Patterson (21 points) also scored in double digits. In addition, Patterson recorded his 1,000th career point midway through the first half of the contest in Amherst, New York.
What's Next? - With Daemen and STAC standing as the final two teams in the conference entering Sunday's finale, the winner of Sunday's conference tournament final will be crowned the 2024 ECC Men's Basketball Champion and receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Tournament. The losing team will have to wait for the selection committee to call their name, late Sunday night, for an at-large bid among a crowded field of worthy teams from both the Northeast-10 and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conferences.
2024 EAST COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
First Round – Wednesday, March 6 at No. 3 and No. 4 seeds
7:00 PM - No. 3 Daemen 76, No. 6 Queens 68
7:00 PM - No. 4 Roberts Wesleyan 64, No. 5 District of Columbia 61
Semifinals – Saturday, March 9 at St. Thomas Aquinas (Sparkill, N.Y.)
12:00 PM - No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas 79, No. 4 Roberts Wesleyan 71
3:00 PM - No. 3 Daemen 68, No. 2 Staten Island 56
Final – Sunday, March 10 at St. Thomas Aquinas (Sparkill, N.Y.)
2:30 PM - No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. No. 3 Daemen
BROADCAST/LIVE STATISTICS INFORMATION
For those who cannot be in attendance, Sunday's Game will be broadcast LIVE on the ECC Network.
Live statistics will also be available for fans to follow all of the game action, if you cannot make it to Aquinas Hall or watch the web stream.
TICKET PRICING
All Games
$8 - General Admission
$4 - Students with ID, Senior Citizens, Children Ages 5-12
Children under 5 free for all games
* Tickets must be purchased at the link above. Due to the seating capacity of the tournament venues, it is recommended that tickets be purchased in advance. The ECC will not guarantee that tickets will be available at the door. *