The No. 5 seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team (24-9, 13-3 ECC) looks to spoil the home court advantage of top seed and undefeated Daemen University (28-0, 16-0 ECC) on Sunday evening, when the Spartans and Wildcats clash in second round action at the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament at Lumsden Gymnasium on the campus of Daemen University in Amherst, N.Y.
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How STAC Got Here:
Regular Season - St. Thomas Aquinas went 8-5 in the first half (November & December 2024), with a pair of three-game win streaks (November 9-19 & December 15-January 2). Second half action (January, February & March 2025) saw STAC post a 14-3 record, with the season's longest win streak (7 games) from February 9 through the end of regular season play. The Spartans have lost back-to-back games on two occasions this season (Nov. 2 vs. North Georgia & Nov. 3 vs. Nova Southeastern) and (Dec. 8 vs. Roberts Wesleyan & Dec. 13 at Daemen).
East Coast Conference Tournament - The Spartans earned a bye to the semifinals, where they pushed past Queens College, 91-82, to advance to the tournament final. Luis Risquez (24pts), Shaun Arnold (15pts & 11rebs), Derrick James (15pts) and Deshawne Crim (12pts) all scored in double figures in the contest. STAC's appearance in the championship game was the team's sixth in a row, but Daemen snapped the streak of five straight maroon and gold titles with an 88-80 win to capture their first ECC crown in program history. In the matchup between the Spartans and Wildcats, Derrick James posted an 18-point effort, while Kyle Jones had 15 points and Michael Parrotta 10 points.
NCAA Tournament First Round Recap:
STAC - In a nip and tuck affair throughout on Saturday evening at Lumsden Gymasium, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team held off a late rally attempt by Pace University to advance in the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament, 79-72. Deshawne Crim led the way for STAC with a game-high 17 points. Teammates Luis Risquez (14 points), Derrick James (11 points) and Michael Parrotta (10 points) also posted double figures in scoring. Trey Boyd III led all Setters scorers, tallying 16 points. Defensively, Shaun Arnold grabbed a game-high 10 boards and swiped five steals for the maroon and gold.
Daemen - Earlier in the evening, Daemen was able to send its opponent, the University of Bridgeport, packing with an 80-68 victory on home court in front of a sell-out crowd. Ryan Salzberg and Justin Glover led the Wildcats in scoring with 13 points apiece, while Phil Nwugwo (12 points) and Benjamin Bill (11 points) also posted double figures in scoring. Aliou Cisse led all scorers, tallying 16 points for the Purple Knights. Defensively, Matt Becker grabbed a game-high 10 boards for the hosts from Western New York.
Tonight's Match-Up:
The No. 5 seeded Spartans take on top seeded Daemen University in second round action and for the fourth time during the 2024-2025 season. The Wildcats won the previous three matchups, first going 2-0 in the regular season series, taking the first meeting at Lumsden Gymnasium, 84-55 on December 13 while also winning the rematch at Aquinas Hall, 65-54 on February 7. In the East Coast Conference Tournament Final on March 9, Daemen ended STAC's streak of five straight titles with an 88-80 victory in Western New York to capture their first-ever league crown.
Dating back to their first meeting during the 1997-98 season, STAC leads the all-time series (36 games), 22-14.
Spartans in the Post-Season - This is the team's tenth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, with the seven trips (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022) coming under former coach Tobin Anderson and the last three appearances (2023, 2024, 2025) coming under current Head Coach Matt Capell's watch. St. Thomas Aquinas College is 10-7 in 17 previous NCAA East Region postseason matchups.
All-Conference Selections – St. Thomas Aquinas placed four players in this year's ECC post-season awards:
Shaun Arnold – ECC Defensive Player of the Year/Second Team All-Conference: topped the ECC and ranked 10th nationally in total steals (68), swiping the ball away 2.3 times per game in 29 regular season contests, and ranked fifth in total rebounds (192), eighth in rebounds per game (6.6), and 10th in total blocks (22). The ECC Defensive Player of the Year totaled 14 games with three or more steals and dropped five double-doubles after averaging 11.5 points per game on 48.0 percent shooting from the field. Arnold helped anchor STAC to a nation-leading 17.00 offensive rebounds per game and 19.43 turnovers forced per game, which topped the ECC and ranked eighth nationally.
Arnold was also named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week on November 11, 2024.
Hartnel Haye – ECC First Team All-Conference: played in all 30 regular season games while averaging 25.4 minutes per game. The Camden, New Jersey native ranks first on the team in points per game (11.9) and total points (358), first on the Spartans (3rd ECC) in rebounds per game (8.1) and (2nd ECC) total rebounds (244), fourth on the maroon and gold in assists per game (1.1) and total assists (33) and second in blocks per game (0.7) and total blocks (20).
Haye was also named the ECC Player of the Week on November 11, 2024.
Derrick James – ECC Second Team All-Conference: suited up in 27 regular season games while averaging 27.5 minutes per game. The Columbus, Ohio resident ranks fourth on the team in points per game (10.7) and fifth in total points (288), first on the Spartans (3rd ECC) in assists per game (4.7) and total assists (126) and second on the maroon and gold (5th ECC) in steals per game (2.0) and (4th ECC) total steals (54).
Luis Risquez – ECC Second Team All-Conference: took the court in 29 regular season games while averaging 21.7 minutes per game. The Barcelona, Venezuela native ranks second on the team in points per game (11.6) and total points (337), fourth on the Spartans (4th ECC) in field goal percentage (51.6%), third on the maroon and gold in rebounds per game (6.1) and total rebounds (178) and second in blocks per game (0.7) and third in total blocks (19).
A Winning Recipe - St. Thomas Aquinas' style of play, solid coaching and roster make-up give the Spartans a winning formula year-to-year, from the season opener to the NCAA Tournament. That is no different in 2024-25, as STAC's record each month shows a level of excellence within the East Region. November 5-3, December 3-2, January 6-2, February 7-1, March (to date) 3-1.
Everyone Plays a Role – Head Coach Matt Capell has had a stable core of starters this season, with Shaun Arnold and Luis Risquez starting 32 of 32 games, Hartnel Haye starting 31 of 33 contests and Derrick James starting 29 of 30 matchups.
Starting Five Combinations
Risquez, Ramos, James, Arnold, Haye (21)
Risquez, Judge, James, Arnold, Haye (5)
Risquez, Judge, Ruckard, Arnold, Haye (2)
Risquez, Judge, James, Arnold, Parrotta (1)
Risquez, Judge, Ruckard, Arnold, Parrotta (1)
Risquez, Ramos, James, Crim, Haye (1)
Green, Ramos, James, Arnold, Haye (1)
Risquez, Judge, Kelly, Arnold, Haye (1)
1,000-Point Kudos – Spartan Luis Risquez joined the prestigious 1,000-Point Club during the 2024-2025 Season. Risquez reached the mark in his fifth year on March 8, 2025 in a 91-82 victory over Queens College at the ECC Men's Basketball Tournament Semifinals.
2025 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
All Games Played at Lumsden Gymnasium (Daemen University) – Amherst, N.Y.
Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 15
12:00 p.m. - No. 6 Assumption 92 vs. No. 3 Southern New Hampshire 66
2:30 p.m. - No. 7 Dominican 85 vs. No. 2 Adelphi 66
5:00 p.m. - No. 8 Bridgeport 68 vs. No. 1 Daemen 80
7:30 p.m. - No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas 79 vs. No. 4 Pace 72
Semifinals – Sunday, March 16
5:00 p.m. - No. 7 Dominican vs. No. 6 Assumption
7:30 p.m. - No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. No. 1 Daemen
Final – Tuesday, March 18
7:00 p.m. - Winner of Semifinal No. 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal No.2
2025 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGION
No. 1 seed – Daemen (27-0, 16-0 ECC) - ECC Regular Season & Tournament Champions
No. 2 seed – Adelphi (26-7, 17-3 NE10) - NE10 Regular Season Champions & Tournament Semifinalist
No. 3 seed – Southern New Hampshire (21-8, 14-6 NE10) - NE10 Tournament Champions
No. 4 seed – Pace (24-7, 14-6 NE10) - NE10 Tournament Runner-Up
No. 5 seed – St. Thomas Aquinas (23-9, 13-3 ECC) - ECC Tournament Runner-Up
No. 6 seed – Assumption (19-9, 14-6 NE10) - NE10 Tournament Quarterfinalist
No. 7 seed – Dominican (20-8, 14-2 CACC North) - CACC Regular Season Champions & Tournament Semifinalist
No. 8 seed – Bridgeport (19-12, 10-6 CACC North) - CACC Tournament Champions
TICKETS
All ticket sales for the 2025 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Regional are conducted via Daemen's online ticket office, accessible by visiting daemenwildcats.com/tickets. No cash is accepted on site. All games feature ticket pre-sales for families of student-athletes, coaches and team personnel.
In addition, the gymnasium will be cleared between each contest. All ticket sales are for single games only.
Semifinal Games
Pre-sale tickets will go on sale Saturday, March 15th at 10:00 p.m. Any tickets not purchased via pre-sale will be released to the general public. General public tickets will go on sale Sunday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m.
Final Game
Pre-sale tickets will go on sale Sunday, March 16 at 10:00 p.m. Any tickets not purchased via pre-sale will be released to the general public. General public tickets will go on sale Monday, March 17 at 8:00 a.m.
BROADCAST & LIVE STATS
All East Regional games will be broadcast on the ECC Network - the official digital streaming network of the East Coast Conference and Daemen University. The ECC Network features live and on demand broadcasts from each institution that can be viewed at eccsportsnetwork.com, or via OTT (over-the-top) apps on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV devices.
Live stats are available for all East Regional games via Sidearm Stats - the official live stats provider for Daemen University. The live stats for all games is https://daemenwildcats.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary.