YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team picked up their first NCAA Tournament win in 12 years as they downed Yeshiva University 81-67 in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball tournament in York.
The Spartans last NCAA victory came when they defeated York (N.Y.) in the tournament's opening round in 2006 at the old Wolf Gymnasium. The #11 Spartans advance to face #13 Hamilton who outlasted Nazareth, 86-72, in the other regional semifinal.
Game #28 – NCAA DIVISION III MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT – FIRST ROUND
Records: #11 York 24-4, Yeshiva 18-11
Final Score: York 81, Yeshiva 67
Field Goals: York 31-for-66, Yeshiva 25-for-64
Field Goal %: York 47%, Yeshiva 39.1%
Three Point FG: York 11-for-34, Yeshiva 6-for-32
Three Point FG%: York 32.4%, Yeshiva 18.8%
Free Throws: York 8-for-14, Yeshiva 11-for-19
Free Throw %: York 57.1%, Yeshiva 57.9%
Rebounds: York 46, Yeshiva 36
Assists: York 21, Yeshiva 12
Turnovers: York 18, Yeshiva 17
Blocked Shots: York 4, Yeshiva 1
Steals: York 11, Yeshiva 11
How It Happened:
• The two squads went back and forth early as they were tied at eight with 16:05 left in the first half. The Spartans then put together an 18-0 run that gave York a 26-8 lead midway through the half. The York lead grew to a game-high 19 at 31-12 at the 7:25 mark.
• The Maccabees answered the Spartan run with a 15-2 run of their own, cutting the York lead to six with just under five minutes left in the first half. The York lead remained in single digits over the next four minutes but the Green and White got a Matt Scamuffo three pointer with 16 seconds left to take a 46-35 lead to the break.
• The Maccabees opened the second half with a quick 6-3 spurt, cutting York's lead to eight in the opening two minutes of the second half. The Spartan lead vacillated between eight and 11 points over the next three minutes. The Maccabees cut the Spartan lead to 54-45 with 14:36 and that's when York started to seize control of the game. York went on a 12-2 run that pushed the lead back to 19 with 9:21 left in the game.
• The Spartan lead remained in double figures until Eli Mamann canned a three pointer with 2:02 left, trimming the York lead to 75-67. The Green and White answered with a Mike Frauenheim three pointer on the Spartans' next possession to push the lead back to 11. Jared Wagner went 3-for-4 from the line over the final minute to provide for the final 14 point margin of victory.
Spartan Leaders:
Matt Scamuffo: 24 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4-for-9 3PT FG
Dalton Myers: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot
Blayde Reich: 10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, 2 steals
Jason Bady: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Jared Wagner: 9 assists, 3 steals, 3 rebounds, 5 points
Maccabee Leaders:
Gabriel Leifer: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Simcha Halpert: 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot, 2 steals, 2-for-10 3PT FG
Daniel Katz: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Tyler Hod: 8 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals
Game Notes:
The meeting between the two teams was the first … York improves to 5-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … York is now 2-2 all-time in home NCAA Tournament games … today's game was the first men's NCAA game in the new Wolf Gymnasium … the Green and White improves to 12-1 at home for the year … York is now 18-1 when leading at the half … York is 19-0 when shooting over 45% from the floor … York is now 17-0 when making more three pointers than their opponents … York is 15-2 when outrebounding their opponents … York is 15-0 when having more assists than turnovers in a game … York finished the game with a slight 40-38 edge in points in the paint … York's 12 offensive rebounds led to 14 second chance points … the Maccabees finished the game with 10 offensive rebounds but that yielded just one second chance point … York fired up 34 three point attempts, the eighth time this year they have gone over 30 attempts from three in a game … the 11 three pointers mark the 13th time they have reached double figures in three pointers made in a game … York shot just 57.1% from the free throw line and that's the fourth time they have been under 60% in a game … junior Jason Bady did an outstanding job on Yeshiva's leading scorer Simcha Halpert as he held the high-scoring sophomore guard to just 12 points, nine below his average … Bady hounded Halpert into 4-for-14 shooting from the floor including 2-for-10 from distance … the Maccabees entered the game averaging 10.8 three pointers made per game and the Spartans held them to 6-for-32 from distance in the game … the Spartans dished out 21 assists in the game and that's the ninth time they have gone over 20 dimes in a game … the Spartan senior triumvirate of Dalton Myers, Matt Scamuffo, and Blayde Reich continue to power the Spartans … the trio combined for 52 points, 23 rebounds, four assists, four blocked shots and three steals … the trio continues to climb the career scoring charts … Myers now has 1,479 points as he continues to close in on Nick Brady for 8th place … Brady has 1,524 career points .. Scamuffo now has 1,367 points as he continues to be 12th … Scamuffo is 43 points behind Steve Schemhl for 11th … Reich has 1,137 points which is 12 points behind Todd Witmer for 19th place … sophomore Jared Wagner dished out a career-high nine assists in the victory … Reich tied his season high with three blocked shots … the Spartans are ranked 11th in the most recent d3hoops.com poll.
Up Next:
The Spartans will host Hamilton on Saturday night with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line. Tip time at Charles Wolf Gymnasium is set for 7:00 pm. Ticket sales start at 5:30 pm and the doors open up at 6:00 pm.