SCRANTON, PA – The York College men's basketball outlasted a talented University of Scranton squad, 87-84, in a huge non-conference road conference contest in Scranton on Wednesday evening. The Spartans earned a measure of revenge as the Royals blasted the Spartans last year at Wolf Gymnasium. York has now won two straight in Scranton and has three straight wins overall. The Royals cut an eight-point Spartan lead down to one in the final 20 seconds but York made a pair of free throws to earn the road victory.
Records
York (Pa.): 6-2
University of Scranton: 4-2
Team Stats
Score: York 87, Scranton 84
FG: York 31-for-64 (48.4%), Scranton 29-for-53 (54.7%)
3PT FG: York 14-for-35 (40.0%), Scranton 9-for-20 (45.0%)
FT: York 11-for-12 (91.7%), Scranton 17-for-22 (77.3%)
Rebounds: York 35, Scranton 24
Assists: York 16, Scranton 14
Turnovers: York 14, Scranton 11
Blocked Shots: York 1, Scranton 5
Steals: York 7, Scranton 9
How It Happened:
• The first half was played at a very frenetic pace. The Spartans scored the first five points of the game only to have Scranton answer with seven straight. York ripped off seven straight points of their own as the Spartans held a 12-7 lead less than four minutes into the game.
• The Spartans continued to lead with it reaching a high of five points twice with the second time coming on a Zach Novick triple. The Royals responded with an 8-2 run to take a 26-25 lead midway through the first half. Spartan senior Jared Wagner converted his second four-point play of the half to push York's lead back to five at 38-33. The Spartan lead eventually grew to eight on another Novick three with 2:36 left in the half. The advantage would reach eight twice more in the half before Scranton's Logan Bailey hit a lay-up with five seconds left in the half, trimming York's lead to 49-43 at the break.
• The first half featured two ties and eight lead changes. York took advantage of 11 offensive rebounds to collect 13 second chance points.
• The Royals got off to a good start after the intermission as they cut the Spartan lead to three at 53-50. York answered with back-to-back threes from Joe Polczynski and Darin Gordon to push the lead to a game-high nine points. The Spartan maintained the lead until the Royals fashioned a 9-0 run to erase a nine-point York advantage and tie the game at 74 with 6:02 left in regulation.
• York bounced back and outscored the Royals 11-3 over the next three minutes to forge an 85-77 lead with 2:53 left in regulation. That's when the Royals went to work. Scranton's run started with a Bailey lay-up with 2:37 left in the game. Matthew Mancuso, the Royals leading scorer, got a steal and fast break lay-up trimming the Spartan lead to four. Mancuso was fouled on the ensuing Spartan possession after the Royals got a stop. The senior stepped up and nailed two free throws, cutting the Spartan lead to 85-83 with 1:40 left.
• The Spartans didn't convert on their next possession and Mancuso was fouled with 18 seconds left in the game. He split the pair and freshman Logan Collins came up with the biggest rebound of his young Spartan career. The two teams then used three timeouts over the next five seconds of game time. At the end of that, Mancuso had to foul Polczynski with 8.6 seconds left. The Spartan senior calmly converted both chances, giving York an 87-84 lead. The Royals advanced to the ball to the front court and called timeout. Sophomore standout Jackson Danzig got a long three off attempting to tie the game but the shot was off and the Spartans earned the hard-fought road win.
Spartan Leaders:
Jared Wagner: 22 points, 12 assists, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 7-for-11 FG, 3-for-4 3PT FG, 5-for-6 FT
Darin Gordon: 16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist
Joe Polczynski: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
David Giuliani: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist
Royal Leaders:
Matthew Mancuso: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 blocked shot, 3 steals
Kyle DeVerna: 20 points, 3 rebounds, 1 blocked shot
Logan Bailey: 17 points, 3 rebounds
Notes:
The Spartans are now 2-2 all-time against the Royals … Scranton earned a 19 point win at Wolf Gymnasium last year … York is now 2-1 at the John Long Center in Scranton … the Spartans have won three straight with two of those wins coming on the road at tough places to play in Gwynedd Mercy and Scranton … York is now 5-0 when leading at the half … the Spartans 87 points is the fifth time in eight games they have been over 85 points in a game … the win was York's closest victory of the year as their previous five wins were all by 20 points or more … York tied a season-high with 14 made three pointers as they were over 40% for the third time this year … York shot a blistering 91.7% (11-for-12) at the free throw line, their best free throw percentage of the year … York enjoyed their second biggest rebounding margin of the year as they handled the big, athletic Royals on the glass 35-24 … York had 14 offensive rebounds in the win which led to 15 second chance points … The Royals made York pay for their turnovers as they turned the 14 Spartan turnovers into 21 points … the Spartans bench outscored their Royal counterparts 22-10 … York had more turnovers than assists for the sixth time this year … Scranton finished the game shooting 54.7% from the field, a high for a Spartan opponent this year … they are the first opponent to shoot better than 47% in a game … senior Jared Wagner recorded his third straight double-double with his season-high 22 points, a career-high tying 12 assists, and nine rebounds in addition to a trio of steals … Wagner is now has 1,099 career points as he passed Jason Saurbaugh (1,082 points) for 23rd on the all-time scoring list … next up on the scoring list is Jeff Landis at 1,111 points … Wagner is now third on the all-time assists list with 404 helpers as he is 19 behind Landis for second place … Wagner is also just 11 steals away from breaking Landis' school record for steals as Wagner has 233 for his career … Wagner entered the season with just one career double-double in 86 career games … Wagner now has three 20-plus point games this season including two of his last three games …. Wagner also had a pair of four-point plays in the game ... senior Darin Gordon tallied a season-high 16 points including a season-high four three-point field goals … Gordon played a season-high 33 minutes in the win … senior Joe Polczynski reached double figures for the second straight game and the fourth time this year … junior David Giuliani recorded his fifth straight game in double figures with his 12 points as he drew the challenging assignment of guarding Scranton's All-Region forward Matthew Mancuso … freshman Logan Collins tied his career-high with seven rebounds … five of those rebounds were offensive, a new career-high for the first year Spartan … Collins also played a career-high 30 minutes as he netted nine points in the win.
Up Next
The Spartans return home for their final two games of the fall semester as they will host Delaware Valley on Saturday afternoon. The game is set for a 3:00 pm tip time as game two in a Spartan men's and women's doubleheader. The Spartans then close out the semester on Wednesday, December 18 as they host Cabrini in a non-conference contest at 7:00 pm.