Lakeland, Fla. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team wrapped up its mini two-game Sunshine State road trip on Sunday, facing last year's NCAA Division II Tournament runner up Nova Southeastern University, at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic.

STAC drops to 0-2 on the season, while Nova Southeastern improves to 2-0.

Sophomore Shaun Arnold and graduate student Hartnel Haye each recorded double-doubles in the contest, with Arnold tallying 23 points and 11 rebounds and Haye picking up 16 points and 10 boards for the maroon and gold. MJ Iraldi paced Nova Southeastern's offense, scoring 23 points on the afternoon. 

St. Thomas Aquinas shot 41.3 percent from the field (33-80), while Nova Southeastern shot a red-hot 58.0 percent (47-81) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Eight Spartans logged double-digit minutes in the contest.
• Derrick James led the maroon and gold with four assists on the afternoon.
• Shaun Arnold hit 10 of his 22 field goal attempts. Meanwhile, Hartnel Haye went 8-for-11 from the floor.
• STAC out-rebounded Nova Southeastern by a 47-44 margin, with Arnold grabbing a game-high 11 boards and Haye racking up 10 rebounds for the Spartans.
• St. Thomas Aquinas picked up eight steals, with the Sharks turning the ball over on 11 separate occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in two team statistical categories over Nova Southeastern: Second Chance Points (24-16) and Bench Points (36-25). 
• St. Thomas Aquinas trailed Nova Southeastern, 58-44 at the half and shot 41.9 percent (18-of-43) from the field.
• Hartnel Haye led all Spartans scorers with ten first half points, while shooting 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from the floor.

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Seven Sharks logged double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• MJ Iraldi led all scorers with 23 points for Nova Southeastern. Teammates and fellow starters Ross Reaves (21 points), Ryker Cisarik (18 points), Dallas Graziani (17 points) and Tyler Eberhart (12 points) also scored in double figures.
• Dallas Graziani led Nova Southeastern with 17 assists on the day.
• MJ Iraldi went 10-for-15 from the floor, with Ross Reaves hitting 8 of his 12 field goal attempts.
• Reeves and Ryker Cisarik both grabbed seven boards apiece for the Sharks.
• Nova Southeastern picked up 15 steals, with the Spartans turning the ball over on 22 separate occasions.
• Nova Southeastern's largest lead of the contest came in the final two minutes of Sunday's matchup, when the Sharks took a 116-79 advantage on a made layup by Alex Sessoms.
• Tyler Eberhart, Ryker Cisarik and MJ Iraldi each led the Sharks with 12 first half points.
• As a team, Nova Southeastern shot a blistering 62.2 percent from the floor (23-of-37) in the first half.

UP NEXT:

St. Thomas Aquinas heads back to New York and will take part in Tournament of Heroes, hosted by the College of Staten Island on November 9 and 10 at the Sports and Recreation Center. STAC will take on Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday (Nov. 9 -5:00 p.m.) and Southern Connecticut State University on Sunday (Nov. 10 - 3:00 p.m.).