SPARKILL, N.Y. -- Junior guard Ta'Quan Williams led Post University Men's Basketball with 16 points as one of four double-digit scorers for the Eagles on Sunday against St. Thomas Aquinas College on the road, but an early nine-point lead would not last, as Post fell for the third consecutive game, 89-72, after beginning the year with a win against Southern Connecticut State University. 

THE BASICS

Post University 72, RV St. Thomas Aquinas College 89

Post University (1-3)

RV St. Thomas Aquinas College (3-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED
As has been the case in the last three games, all the ties and lead changes would come in the first half before Post's opponent pulled away, with today seeing four lead changes and one tie along the way. After a flurry of baskets at the start for both sides, junior guard Zion Lott opened up a 5-0 run all on his own for the Eagles that gave them their first and only double-digit lead of the contest, 28-17, with 9:43 left in the first half. Slowly but surely, the Spartans would begin to will their way back into the game, taking the lead and controlling the rest of the afternoon.

Momentum shifted after freshman guard Harry Scully knocked down a three to extend Post's lead back to nine points, 33-24, with 7:23 remaining, as he would be called for a technical foul after the play, resulting in a pair of free throws and the ball for St. Thomas Aquinas. While freshman guard Ky Panda-Massey would split the pair of shots, it ended up being the catalyst for an 8-0 Spartans run that ended with a layup from Panda-Massey, pulling the Spartans within one, and eventually taking their first lead since it was 4-2 in the opening minutes when senior center Jordan Green connected on a layup with 4:25 to go, as St. Thomas Aquinas never relinquished the lead again.

After trailing by 11 earlier in the frame, the Spartans headed into the break leading by 11 points, 48-37, behind an 18-for-32 (56.2%) shooting half in which they hit on 5-of-10 (50%) of their threes. The stellar shooting by St. Thomas Aquinas wiped out what was another effective shooting half for the Eagles, who were 15-for-35 from the floor (42.8%), nailing 4-of-13 (30.7%) of their threes.

Beyond the 18:37 mark of the second half, the deficit for Post following that three from Lott would never sink below double digits again. While the lead for the Spartans would balloon to as many as 21 points down the stretch of regulation, it would settle on a 17-point victory for the home team, 89-72, led by Green's 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Green was one of five players for the Spartans to reach double-digit scoring as the entire starting five had at least 10 points and hit on at least half their shots from the field in a game where the Spartans shot 54.7% overall, making 35-of-64 attempts.

Following the 16 points on 6-for-16 shooting from Williams, junior guard Tre Duncan had 14 points on 50% shooting (6-for-12), while Lott recorded 14 points of his own, and graduate forward Gianni Thompson was 5-for-11 from the floor with 12 points in the loss. 

BY THE NUMBERS 

• Despite the 1-3 start to the season, Post University's shooting has been consistently strong, shooting above 44% in three of their four games, with the outlier being a 35.8% performance in a loss to Franklin Pierce University
• Post University is off to its first 1-3 start since the 2018-19 season, when it began the year 1-5, which included four non-conference losses
• So far this season, Post University has trailed by double-digit margins in all three of its losses, falling to 0-3 when trailing at halftime while remaining 1-0 when leading at the break
• In all three losses, Post University has been outrebounded, including by a double-digit margin in their last two losses -- St. Thomas Aquinas College held a 41-27 edge in the category today

WHO'S NEXT
Conference play opens up for Post University on Tuesday afternoon as they head on the road to close their five-game road trip against Chestnut Hill College at 4:30 PM. After winning the previous six games in the head-to-head series, the Eagles have lost each of the last two matchups with the Griffins by eight points in each affair.