Amherst, N.Y. - Despite a late rally attempt by the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team, their streak of five consecutive East Coast Conference Tournament Finals victories came to an end on Sunday afternoon as Daemen University claimed its first-ever ECC title with an 88-80 victory over the Spartans at Lumsden Gymnasium in Western New York.

STAC slips to 23-9 overall and awaits the decision makers within the men's basketball selection committee to call their name as one of the five at-large bid squads. The Spartans were ranked No. 6 in the most recent and final East Regional poll. Daemen remains undefeated on the season at 27-0 and clinches an automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Division II Tournament - with seedings and matchups being announced later tonight - as the Wildcats entered the weekend at No. 1 in the East Regional rankings. 

Derrick James led the STAC offense with 18 points, while Kyle Jones (15 points) and Michael Parrotta (10 points) also scored in double-figures for the maroon and gold. Benjamin Bill paced Daemen's scoring with a game-high 23 points on the afternoon. 

St. Thomas Aquinas shot 42.6 percent from the field (29-68) and 95.0 percent from the foul line (19-20), while Daemen shot 54.1 percent (33-61) 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 day.
• James hit 7 of his 14 field goal attempts, with 2-of-5 going in from beyond the arc, and 2-of-2 free throws. Kyle Jones went 6-of-8 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
• STAC out-rebounded Daemen by a 40-32 margin, with Hartnel Haye grabbing a team-high nine boards for the Spartans.
• St. Thomas Aquinas swiped six steals, with the Wildcats turning the ball over on 12 separate occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in three team statistical categories over Daemen: Points off Turnovers (17-12), Second Chance Points (16-14) and Bench Points (34-28).
• The game featured two ties and no lead changes.
• Derrick James led all Spartans scorers with 11 first half points, while shooting 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from the floor and 50.0 percent (1-for-2) from three-point.
• STAC's best shooting half came in the opening stanza as the Spartans shot 47.1 percent (16-34) from the field and 100 percent (2-2) from the foul line
• Derrick James and Michael Parrotta were also named to the All-Tournament team.

DAEMEN NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Eight Wildcats logged double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• Benjamin Bill led Daemen with 23 points, while Justin Hemphill (21 points), Andrew Mason (14 points) and Justin Glover (10 points) also scored in double figures.
• Hemphill also led Daemen with seven assists on the afternoon.
• Bill went 9-for-15 from the floor and 5-of-8 from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Hemphill went 10-for-16 from the field.
• Justin Hemphill also grabbed a game-high 10 boards for the Wildcats.
• Daemen picked up six steals, with the Spartans turning the ball over on 11 separate occasions.
• The Wildcats earned advantages in two team statistical categories over St. Thomas Aquinas: Points in the Paint (54-36) and Fastbreak Points (16-2).
• Daemen's largest lead of the game came with just under seven minutes to play in the contest, when the Wildcats led by 16 points, 73-57, on a Justin Hemphill layup.
• Daemen led STAC 40-35 going into the halftime locker room and shot 48.5 percent (16-33) from the floor and 85.7 percent (6-7) from the free throw line.
• Benjamin Bill led all scorers with 15 first half points for the Wildcats, while shooting 54.5 percent (6-for-11) from field and 100.0 percent (3-of-3) from the charity stripe.
• Justin Hemphill was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tourney, while teammates Benjamin Bill and Andrew Mason were selected to the All-Tournament team.

UP NEXT:

St. Thomas Aquinas awaits its potential tournament seeding and opponent from the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Selection Committee, which will be announced later this evening (11:00pm) at NCAA.com. The East Region tourney will get underway next weekend (March 15-18) at Lumsden Gymnasium in Amherst, New York and will be hosted top seed Daemen University.