MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The 13^th ranked St. Thomas men's basketball team fought from behind to earn its 20^th win of the season, a 75-72 victory over conference rival Embry-Riddle on Thursday night at the Fernandez Center.  The Bobcats were led by senior guard Eugene Davis who scored 24 points, 14 of which came in the second half.  Sophomore point guard Kevin Hincapie had 20 points.

With the win, the Bobcats (20-7, 13-2) match the most wins in school history and become the first STU team to win 20 games in the regular season.  The win also gave the Bobcats a season sweep over Embry-Riddle (16-13, 7-8).  STU has now won 19 of its last 20 games dating back to a 76-73 road win over Embry-Riddle on Dec. 1.

“I'm really happy for this group of guys, It means a lot to our seniors,” said Head Coach Clark Maloney. “We want to be a nationally ranked team every year.”

St. Thomas trailed most of the game and by as many as eight points in the second half.  A jumper by Davis tied the score at 68-68, then a fast break layup by Hincapie gave the Bobcats their first lead of the second half at 70-68 with 2:43 remaining.  A Davis three-pointer put STU up 73-70 with 1:08 to play.   The Eagles cut the lead down to one with two free throws with 46 seconds to go, but an offensive rebound off a Davis miss with 30 seconds left gave STU possession.  Hincapie would hit one free throw as would senior Robert Ford following a steal by Lorel Beckford to seal the win.

Davis came off the bench to play 27 minutes and matched his season-high in scoring with his two best performances of the year both coming against Embry-Riddle.  He scored 24 points in the first meeting vs. the Eagles.  On Thursday, the senior shot 11-13 from the free throw line and 6-of-14 from the field including his critical three-pointer down the stretch.

“I just saw that my teammates were passing me the ball and I was getting open,” said Davis. “At the end of the day defense is what led us to this win.”

St. Thomas plays their final regular season game of the year on Saturday night at 7 p.m. vs. Ave Maria at the Fernandez Center.   Four Bobcat seniors, David Nesbitt, Everson Lacerda, Robert Ford and Davis will be honored before the game for Senior Night celebration.