Back To The Finals! Relentless Men's Basketball Spartans Eliminate Undefeated Top Seed Daemen, 79-74; Next Up Assumption Tuesday in Sweet 16

Recap courtesy of Brad Sarno, St. Thomas Aquinas College Sports Information Nine Spartans logged double-digit minutes in the contest.  Derrick James led the maroon and gold with eight assists on the night. Hartnel Haye hit 6 of his 9 field goal attempts, while Kyle Jones went 2-of-6 from the floor, but sank all six of his free throw attempts and Derrick James shot 2-of-5 from the field and went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Hartnel Haye also grabbed a team-high nine boards for the Spartans. St. Thomas Aquinas swiped five steals, with the Wildcats turning the ball over on 14 separate occasions. The Spartans earned advantages in three team statistical categories over Daemen: Points off Turnovers (20-9), Second Chance Points (18-12) and Points in the Paint (38-32). The game featured three ties and six lead changes. STAC's largest lead of the game came with just under eight minutes to play in the contest, when Spartans led by nine points, 67-58, on a Tommy Kelly layup. Hartnel Haye led all Spartans scorers with 12 first half points. Haye shot 67.0 percent (6-of-9) from the field. STAC's best shooting half came in the second stanza, where the Spartans shot 41.2 percent (14-34) from the floor, 60.0 percent (3-5) from beyond the arc and 83.3 percent (10-12) from the foul line. St. Thomas Aquinas is now 23-14 in 37 total matchups with Daemen going back to the 1997-98 season. Seven Wildcats logged double-digit minutes in the contest.  Benjamin Bill led Daemen with 22 points, while Justin Glover (15 points), Zach Philipkoski (15 points) and Ryan Salzberg (11 points) also scored in double figures. Justin Hemphill led Daemen with six assists on the evening. Bill went 8-for-15 from the floor and 6-of-10 from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Glover went 5-for-10 from the field and 4-of-8 from distance and Philipkoski shot 5-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the foul line. Daemen out-rebounded St. Thomas Aquinas by slim 42-40 margin, with Bill also grabbing a game-high 12 boards for the Wildcats. Daemen picked up five steals, with the Spartans turning the ball over on nine separate occasions. The Wildcats earned advantages in two team statistical categories over St. Thomas Aquinas: Fastbreak Points (11-9) and Bench Points (41-33). Daemen's largest lead of the game came with just over five minutes to play in the opening half, when Wildcats led by 12 points, 36-24, on a Matt Becker three-point jumper. Daemen led STAC 43-38 going into the halftime locker room and shot 42.9 percent (15-35) from the floor, 43.8 percent (7-16) from downtown and 66.7 percent (6-9) from the charity stripe. Justin Glover and Benjamin Bill led all Wildcats scorers with 12 first half points apiece. Glover shot 50.0 percent (4-of-8) from the floor, with 57.1 percent (4-of-7) of his shots sailing through the nets from distance and Bill shot 50.0 percent (4-of-8) from the field and 80.0 percent (4-of-5) from the free throw line.
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