MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – No. 2 seed St. Thomas (17-11) defeated no. 7 seed Johnson & Wales (18-12) 68-59 in the quarterfinals of The Sun Conference Championship presented by Olympus Insurance.  With the win, the Bobcats advance to the Final Four of The Sun Conference Championship to be played Monday, March 2 – Tuesday, March 3.
 
STU's David Santiago, playing in his first game since Feb. 17, led the Bobcats with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting including two three-pointers.  Michael Walker also hit two three-pointers en route to 16 points.  Point guard Mikon Hewitt led all players with eight assists while Lorel Beckford led STU on the boards with seven rebounds to go along with 12 points.
 
The Bobcats never trailed in the first half, opening up a 14-point lead at 29-15 with 8:30 to play and kept the lead in double digits for much of the affair.  In the second half, the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to four points with 11:32 remaining and again with 10:11 to play.  A Hewitt three-pointer followed by a Santiago dunk off an assist by Beckford brought the STU lead back to nine with 8:43 left in regulation.
 
The Wildcats would go on another run to get within two points, but the Bobcats held on as Beckford and Walker hit several key free throws down the stretch.
 
Bench scoring was a key factor as STU outscored JWU 29-2 in bench points.
 
St. Thomas will play Southeastern on Monday in The Sun Conference semifinals to be played in Daytona Beach, Fla.