Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team gave unbeaten Daemen University all they could handle on Friday evening. Unfortunately, the visiting Wildcats were able to rally back in the second half to hand the valiant Spartans a 65-54 setback at Aquinas Hall.

STAC slips to 15-8 overall and 7-3 in ECC play, while Daemen maintains their unblemished record, moving to 20-0 and 11-0.

Deshawne Crim led maroon and gold offense with 11 points. Zach Philipkoski led all scorers, dropping 15 points for the visiting Wildcats.

St. Thomas Aquinas shot 40.0 percent from the field (22-55), while Daemen shot 49.0 percent (24-49) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Ten Spartans logged double-digit minutes in the contest.
• Derrick James and Shaun Arnold led the maroon and gold with two assists apiece on the evening.
• Deshawne Crim hit 5 of his 8 field goal attempts.
• Daemen out-rebounded STAC by a slim 32-30 margin, with Luis Risquez, Shaun Arnold and Michael Parrotta each grabbing a team-high five boards for the Spartans.
• St. Thomas Aquinas swiped 12 steals, with the Wildcats turning the ball over on 23 separate occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in two team statistical categories over Daemen: Second Chance Points (10-8) and Points in the Paint (36-32).
• The game featured two ties and three lead changes.
• STAC's largest lead came in with just under 11 minutes to play in the opening half of Friday's contest, when the Spartans led by 11 points, 20-9, on a Luis Risquez free throw.
• St. Thomas Aquinas led Daemen, 34-28 at the half and shot 39.4 percent (13-of-33) from the field.
• Deshawne Crim led all scorers with nine first half points for the Spartans, while shooting 67.0 percent (4-of-6) from the floor.
• Up 40-30 with just under 16 minutes to play in regulation, STAC was outscored 35-14 by the Wildcats for the remainder of the stanza.

DAEMEN NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Eight Wildcats logged double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• Zach Philipkoski led all scorers with 15 points for Daemen. Teammates Justin Hemphill (12 points) and Benjamin Bill (10 points) also scored in double figures.
• Matt Becker led Daemen with five assists on the night.
• Philipkoski went 4-for-6 from the floor, 3-of-6 from the three-point line and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, with Hemphill hitting 5 of his 9 field goal attempts.
• Justin Hemphill also grabbed a game-high 12 boards for the Wildcats.
• Daemen picked up seven steals, with the Spartans turning the ball over on 19 separate occasions.
• The Wildcats earned advantages in three team statistical categories over St. Thomas Aquinas: Points off Turnovers (22-16), Fastbreak Points (12-2) and Bench Points (34-25).
• Daemen's largest lead of the contest (12 points) came in the final two and a half minutes of the contest, when the Wildcats took a 62-50 advantage on a Benjamin Bill tip-in bucket.
• Ryan Salzberg led all Wildcats scorers with eight first half points, while shooting 50.0 percent (3-for-6) from the field and 67.0 percent (2-of-3) from beyond the arc.
• Daemen's best shooting half came in the second stanza, when the Wildcats shot 50.0 percent (12-24) from the floor and 89.0 percent (8-9) from the foul line.

UP NEXT:

STAC welcomes D'Youville University to Aquinas Hall on Sunday, February 9. The Spartans and Saints will do battle in ECC action beginning at 3:00 p.m.