Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team rallied back from a 13-point second-half deficit and then survived a late surge by Queens College, to defeat the Knights 76-74 on Wednesday evening in front of a packed house at Aquinas Hall.

STAC improves to 23-4 overall and 14-1 in ECC play, while Queens drops to 7-20 and 4-11.

In the Spartans' regular season home finale, the maroon and gold honored its graduating class, as Antonio Vendola's collegiate career was celebrated with on-court ceremonies, which included the athletes' families, teammates, coaches and administrators.

Once the game got underway, DeVante Jamison led the way for the Spartans, posting 22 points, while teammates Luis Risquez (13 points), James Patterson (12 points) and Jamal Barnes (11 points) also recorded double-digit point totals.

STAC shot 36.8 percent from the field (28-76), while Queens shot 41.2 percent (28-68) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Seven Spartans recorded double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• DeVante Jamison led the maroon and gold with eight assists on the evening.
• Jamison made 9 of his 18 field goal attempts, while Luis Risquez went 6-for-11 from the floor.
• Queens outrebounded STAC 48-42, with Kyle Pulliam grabbing a team-high 10 boards for the Spartans.
• St. Thomas Aquinas picked up 10 steals, with the Knights turning the ball over on 22 separate occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in four team statistical categories over Queens: Points off Turnovers (25-7), Second Chance Points (11-10), Points in the Paint (38-36) and Bench Points (23-19).
• The game featured five ties and nine lead changes.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Queens opened the game with a pair of threes, while DeVante Jamison hit on his first jumper for the Spartans to make it 6-2 in favor of the visitors early on.
• Back and forth play over the next two minutes led to STAC taking its first lead of the game on a Jamison layup, making it 9-8.
• However, the Knights went on a 6-0 run to flip the scoreboard back in their favor at 14-9.
• STAC continued to battle and find themselves opportunities to score, taking back the lead 19-18 with 11:15 left to play before halftime.
• A 9-2 streak by Queens in the span of three minutes and ten seconds then put them back in front by six, 27-21.
• The Spartans fought back to close the gap to just one, as Kyle Pulliam's three sailed through the net to make it 27-26.
• Queens powered its way back to an eight-point advantage late in the stanza, but threes from Ethan Millirons and Antonio Vendola kept the maroon and gold close on the scoreboard, trailing only 38-34 at the break.
• DeVante Jamison led all scorers with 10 first-half points for the Spartans, while Tyler Carey and Sunnie Diamond paced the Knights offense.
• When the teams returned to the hardwood for second-half action, both sides traded two and three-point jumpers, with STAC still remaining down by only four (43-39).
• A 10-1 run by the Knights gave the visitors their largest lead of the game at 13 (53-40) with 15:31 to play in regulation and forced the STAC coaching staff to burn a timeout.
• The Spartans took stock of the task at hand and used the emotion of a raucous sellout crowd inside of Aquinas Hall to fight their way back into the game.
• James Patterson, Luis Risquez, DeVante Jamison and Kyle Pulliam powered the STAC offense to a 12-0 run over a five and half minute span to give the Spartans back the lead, 55-53.
• A Knights dunk tied things at 55-55, but it would be quickly countered by a Luis Risquez trey to keep the momentum on the Spartans side (58-55).
• The teams then traded free throws with DeVante Jamison sinking his pair to make it 60-59 in favor of the hosts.
• Queens would find an offensive spark, streaking for six straight points to retake the lead, 63-60 with a shade over six and half minutes to play on regulation.
• Jamison, Jamal Barnes and Risquez then recorded seven of the next nine points to flip the scoreboard once again in favor of STAC, 67-65.
• Tied a 67, Luis Risquez was able to use the glass on back-to-back layups to give the Spartans a 71-67 advantage with 90 seconds left on the clock.
• A Queens layup of their own cut the lead to just two (71-69), but DeVante Jamison then made it a three by hitting one of two free throws with 38 seconds remaining.
• Jamal Barnes' basket out of a timeout, helped give STAC a five-point lead (74-69), and would come in handy, as the Knights then connected from downtown on their very next possession to make it 74-72 with 10 seconds to play.
• James Patterson then went 1-for-2 from the line to extend the STAC lead to 75-72.
• On the subsequent inbound STAC immediately fouled to prevent a three-point attempt. In the double bonus, Queens would hit on their two free throw attempts to cut the deficit to just one, at 75-74.
• Barnes closed out the scoring by hitting one of two free throws to restore a two-point STAC advantage, 76-74. 
• One final play by Queens would miss its mark and the buzzer sounded to end the contest in favor of St. Thomas Aquinas College.

UP NEXT:

STAC closes out its 2022-23 regular season schedule by visiting Molloy University on Saturday, February 25. Tip-off between the Spartans and Lions is set for 2:00 p.m. at Quealy Gymnasium in Rockville Centre, N.Y.