ASHLAND, VA – The York College men's basketball squad put together an impressive performance on both ends of the floor as the Spartans rolled past DeSales 83-59 in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Division III Tournament. The tournament win is the sixth in school history and is the first NCAA Tournament win away from Wolf Gymnasium since the 2005 win over Kings in the Elite Eight at Ramapo.
Game #29 – NCAA Tournament First Round
Final Score: York (Pa.) 83, DeSales 59
Records: York 22-7, DeSales 21-7
Field Goals: York 32-of-51, DeSales 20-of-58
Field Goal %: York 62.7%, DeSales 34.5%
Three Point FG: York 14-of-27, DeSales 5-for-22
Three Point FG %: York 51.9%, DeSales 22.7%
Free Throws: York 5-for-8, DeSales 14-for-18
Free Throw %: York 62.5%, DeSales 77.8%
Rebounds: York 30, DeSales 30
Assists: York 21, DeSales 11
Turnovers: York 14, DeSales 15
Blocked Shots: York 8, DeSales 0
Steals: York 13, DeSales 9
How It Happened
• The rested Spartan squad got off to another fantastic start as they raced out to a 19-4 lead just over six and a half minutes into the game. The Spartans were dialed in on the defensive end while the offense was clicking from distance early.
• The Bulldogs trimmed York's lead to 11 at 21-10 but the Spartans answered with an 8-0 spurt keyed by threes from Joey Polczynski and Darin Gordon. The Spartan lead grew to 18 on another Polczynski three with 3:14 left in the half. The Bulldogs outscored York 10-5 over the final three minutes of the half to trim their halftime deficit to 13 at 42-29.
• The Bulldogs opened the second half scoring with a Tracy Simsick lay-up but York answered with a hay maker, going on an 11-0 run to give the Spartans a 22-point lead less than four minutes into the second half. The York lead vacillated between 15 and 23 points over the next nine minutes of play.
•York pushed the lead to 28 on a three from Polczynski followed by a Jared Wagner lay up with four minutes left in the game to remove any remaining doubts about the final outcome of the game. The 28 point lead would be the high mark for the game as the Spartans settled for a 24-point margin of victory.
Spartan Leaders
Joey Polczynski: 22 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 6-for-8 3PT FG
Jason Bady: 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocked shots, 3 steals
Jared Wagner: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals
Darin Gordon: 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocked shots, 2 steals
Mike Frauenheim: 3 points, 10 assists, 1 blocked shot, 3 steals
Bulldog Leaders
Ben Pratt: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals
Luke Connaghan: 13 points, 9 rebounds
Mike Bealer: 10 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal
Game Notes:
The Spartans lead the all-time series against the Bulldogs 13-6 as York has won three straight in the series … this game was the first between the two programs since November 18, 2005 … the Spartans are now 6-6 all-time in their six NCAA Tournament appearances … York is now 3-3 in first round games … York has played 12 different teams in their NCAA Tournament appearances … the Spartan defensive effort against the Bulldogs was one of their best of the season … York held the Bulldogs to just 59 points on 20 field goals … the game is the fifth time this year that York has held an opponent to 20 made field goals or less … York has now held six opponents to 60 points or less in a game … on the other side of the ball, the Spartans shot a season-high 62.7% from the floor and another season high as they went 14-for-27 (51.9%) from three … York dished out 21 assists and that's the seventh time this year they have had 20 or more assists in a game … the Spartans tied their season-high with eight blocked shots in the game, a mark they have reached in two other games this year … York recorded 13 steals and that's the 13th time this year they have been in double figures in steals in a game … York is now 15-3 when leading at the half … York is 9-1 when shooting over 45% from the floor … York is 20-5 when making more free throws than their opponents … York is now 14-5 when committing less than 15 turnovers in a game … junior Joey Polczynski led all scorers with 22 points and that's his fourth 20-plus point effort of the year … Polczynski now has 15 double figure efforts for the year … CAC Player of the Year Jason Bady continues to be outstanding season with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and three steals … Bady has reached double figures in 26 of his 29 games for the year … Bady now has 1,138 career points as he trails former teammate Blayde Reich by five points for 20th place on the Spartans' all-time scoring list … All-CAC guard Jared Wagner was the third Spartan in double figures with 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists and three steals … senior Mike Frauenheim tied his career-high with 10 assists in the game while he had just one turnover in the win.
Up Next:
The Spartans will face the winner of the Randolph-Macon/Morrisville State game on Saturday night in Ashland, Virginia for the right to advance to the 2019 Sweet 16. Tip time from Crenshaw Gymnasium is set for 7:00 pm.