The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team has been ranked #7 in the East Region in the latest NCAA Division II Men's Basketball poll of the season, released on Wednesday afternoon. The Spartans, coming off of a sweep of Western New York contests over Daemen College and D'Youville University, have remained among the region's best squads, entering the week at 22-4 overall and 15-1 in the ECC, which puts the Spartans in a virtual tie in the conference standings with Daemen.

Daemen College is ranked #8 in this week's table, with no other ECC teams cracking the top 10. The Spartans have two games to go in the regular season, with one of those taking place at Aquinas Hall, where the Spartans are 10-1 this season. That string starts with Wednesday's contest against the University of the District of Columbia, with STAC having already taken the first matchup between the squads, 103-71 on January 12 in our nation's capital.

Eight teams will be represent the East Region in this season's NCAA Tournament, with automatic bids going to tournament champions from the ECC, Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), and the Northeast-10 (NE10), and the remaining five berths being awarded on an at-large basis. Bentley University (NE10) captures the top spot in this week's poll, with Franklin Pierce University (NE10) and Saint Anselm College (NE10) rounding out the top three. 

The Spartans have already clinched a bye in the upcoming ECC Tournament and will advance to the semi-finals on Saturday, March 5, which will be held at the highest regular season seed. The final will talk place the very next day (Sunday, March 6), also at the highest seed. Following the crowning of an East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament champion on Sunday, NCAA brackets and locations will be announced later that night. Regional play takes place the very next weekend, with the Elite Eight to be held from March 22-26 at Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Region Poll (as of 2/23/22)

 1.  Bentley University (NE10) (18-4)

 2.  Franklin Pierce University (NE10) (15-8)

 3.  Saint Anselm College (NE10) (14-8)

 4.  Dominican College (CACC) (17-6)

 5.  Pace University (NE10) (17-8)

 6.  University of New Haven (NE10) (17-7)

 7.  St. Thomas Aquinas College (ECC) (22-4)

 8.  Daemen College (ECC) (18-7)

 9.  Southern New Hampshire University (NE10) (13-10)

10. Adelphi University (NE10) (17-9)