SPARKILL, N.Y – The Roberts Wesleyan University men's basketball team staged a furious comeback attempt, cutting a 20-point deficit to three in the final minute, but was unable to overcome Saint Thomas Aquinas College in an East Coast Conference Championship semifinal game on Saturday afternoon.
The top-seeded Spartans took a 62-42 lead with 9:42 to play, but the fourth-seeded Redhawks regrouped and narrowed the gap to three, 74-71, on a three-pointer by sophomore Ryan Garwood with 33 seconds to play. STAC made five free throws in the final 28 seconds to close out a 79-71 win.
"The heart and resilience is never something that we are ever going to question with this group," Roberts coach Mark Saladzius said. "They got after it. For us, we did a little bit too much too late. … I think that overall, guys are holding their heads up high because they know that they fought and they gave them all that they had. They were the better team today, so hat's off to them."
Senior Malik Brooks led the Redhawks (13-13) with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Kevin Constant added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and Garwood finished with 10 points. Isaiah Elmore contributed six rebounds and blocked five shots.
The Redhawks are awaiting word on a possible bid to the National Christian College Athletic Association tournament.
STAC (24-5) has won four consecutive ECC Championships and is the No. 2 team in the East Region in this week's official NCAA Division II rankings. The Spartans will host the ECC Championship Game at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.