Manchester, N.H. - An outstanding 2022-23 season came to a close for the St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team on Saturday, but Head Coach Matt Capell's first year at the helm of the Spartans was filled with many memorable moments, including ECC Regular Season and Tournament titles, a trip to the big dance and many awards and accolades for both players and coaches alike, with more honors still to come.
In its eighth straight NCAA Division II Tournament, No. 6 STAC fell to No. 3 Southern New Hampshire University, 78-64 at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium on the campus of top seed and hosts Saint Anselm College.
The Spartans close their campaign, going 26-5 overall and 15-1 in the ECC. Meanwhile, So. New Hampshire improves to 21-8 and advances to Sunday's semifinal against No. 2 Bentley University.
DeVante Jamison paced the Spartans' offense in final contest of the season with 18 points, while teammate James Patterson added 14 points. Matt Becht led all scorers with 24 points for SNHU.
St. Thomas Aquinas shot 36.5 percent from the field (23-63), while Southern New Hampshire shot 57.7 percent (30-52) from the floor and 56.5 (13-23) percent from beyond the arc.
STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:
- Eight Spartans recorded double-digit minutes in the contest.
- DeVante Jamison led the Spartans with two assists on the afternoon.
- Jamison made 6 of his 15 field goal attempts, while James Patterson went 6-for-13 from the floor.
- Southern New Hampshire out rebounded St. Thomas Aquinas 36-27 in 40 minutes of action, with James Patterson grabbing a team-high six boards for the Spartans.
- STAC picked up eight steals in the contest, with SNHU turning the ball over on 20 separate occasions.
- The Spartans earned advantages in four team statistical categories over the Penmen: Points off Turnovers (27-2), Second Chance Points (12-7), Points in the Paint (26-22) and Fastbreak Points (18-0).
- The game featured 10 ties and 16 lead changes.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Southern New Hampshire opened the quarterfinal contest, scoring seven of the first 10 points to hold an early 7-3 lead.
- Five straight points from Jordan Green and Jamal Barnes put STAC ahead 8-7 before the 16-minute media timeout.
- An 11-3 run by the Penmen flipped the scoreboard in favor of SNHU and gave them a seven point advantage, 18-11 with 12:58 to play before halftime.
- Richard Smith, DeVante Jamison, James Patterson and Vasilis Tolias put together a 10-run of their own to retake the lead for STAC at 21-18.
- SNHU continued to battle on the offensive end of the floor, scoring 10 of 16 points to regain a seven-point advantage, 31-24 with seven and a half minutes to left in the stanza.
- STAC fought back once again, as DeVante Jamison, James Patterson and Jordan Green all knocked down shots to flip the scoreboard back in favor of the Spartans, 35-34 with two minutes to play.
- Two Jamison free throws extented the maroon and gold advantage to three (37-35), before a Southern New Hampshire trey tied things at 37-37 at the break.
- DeVante Jamison led all scorers with 14 first-half points for the Spartans, while Matt Becht paced the Penmen offense with 10 points.
- When the teams returned to the hardwood for the second half, SNHU struck for nine straight points to pull ahead 46-37 and force St. Thomas Aquinas to call a timeout with just under 16 minutes to play in the contest.
- Despite STAC being able to score on successive trips down the floor, the Penmen would counter to keep themselves at arms length. SNHU held a 50-41 advantage, before blowing the game open with 15 of the next 17 points to extend its lead to 65-43 with a shade under 10 minutes left in regulation.
- The Spartans continued to claw its way back into the contest, but Southern New Hampshire maintained double-digit advantages down the stretch. A SNHU three-pointer gave them their largest lead of the day (26 points) at 76-50 with 4:37 remaining in the quarterfinal.
- STAC put up a valiant effort down the stretch, taking a 14-2 streak to the buzzer with Jamal Barnes, James Patterson and Ethan Millirons leading the way. However, time would run out on the Spartans' season, giving So. New Hampshire the 14-point victory.
Provided by the St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information Department.
