Spartans sparked by quick start in 88-69 win over Blue Jays

More news about: Elizabethtown

Joe Schwalm (2) at York 11/18/11

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Box Score

YORK, Pa. York College built a 20-point halftime lead and then withstood Elizabethtown's pesky press defense to defeat the Blue Jays 88-69 Friday evening in the opening round of the White Rose City Classic at Charles Wolf Gymnasium.

E-town (0-2) led three times in the game, but all three came within the first five minutes of action. Joe Schwalm nailed a 3-pointer on the Blue Jays first offensive possession to put the visitors ahead 3-1. Andrew Mantz would put EC up 5-3 the next time down the court and Steve Ennis' layup at the 4:43 mark flipped the lead to the Jays' side at 8-7.

York's experienced lineup was unable to break free of E-town for the better part of 10 minutes in the first half. A Mantz layup trimmed the Spartans' (2-0) lead to one at 17-16 with 10:33 to play, but Adam Earle canned a three to start a 28-9 run that lasted the duration of the period. Julian Watson, Andrew Pawlyk, Paul Kouvaris, Jeremy Skoloda and Mitch Kemp all contributed to the spurt, but it was Todd Maciejewski leading the charge. The junior forward scored nine of his game-high 21 points to lead York to the break with a 45-25 advantage.

With a hefty lead, York did not see its second half lead increase —or decrease— for a majority of the half. E-town finally started to crack away at a 19-point YCP lead thanks to back-to-back layups from Kyle McConnell and another by Mantz. The lead still stood at 13, 75-62, following the three straight buckets from EC.

Kouvaris and Watson quickly helped push the lead back to 20 with 2:32 to go. Elizabethtown was able to outscore York 44-43 in the second half. Much of that can be attributed to an 18-6 advantage in points off turnovers. The Blue Jays forced nine of them from the home side on the way to those 18 points. The Blue Jays also held a slim 46-44 edge in points in the paint.

Schwalm paced the visitors with 16 points, while Mantz contributed 12 and a game-high nine boards. McConnell had an all-around solid game with nine points, a team-high six assists and four rebounds. Ennis was productive in going 3-of-4 from the floor for seven points in 22 minutes.

All four of York's double figure scorers were starters. Joining Maciejewski were Watson and Kouvaris, each of whom added 16 points. Skoloda scored 11 as the Spartans shot 53.4 percent from the field (31-of-58). E-town, meanwhile, hit just over 43 percent of its attempts (28-of-65).

Maciejewski, Kouvaris and Pawlyk shared the team lead with eight rebounds apiece.

Elizabethtown will play in tomorrow's 1 p.m. consolation game. The Jays will get Richard Stockton, who fell to Wisconsin-Stevens Point in Friday's late game.