ALLIANCE, OHIO – The York College men's basketball team got a balanced performance throughout the squad as the Spartans advanced to the second round courtesy of their 88-67 win over St. John Fisher on Friday evening in Alliance, Ohio. The Spartans have won their opening game in three straight NCAA Tournaments.
The Spartans advance to the round of 32 where they will take on the winner of the Mount Union-Cairn University game. That game will be Saturday night at 7:30 pm.
Records
#25 York (Pa.): 23-5
St. John Fisher: 19-9
Team Stats
Score: York 88, St. John Fisher 67
FG: York 26-for-59 (44.1%), SJF 23-for-65 (35.4%)
3PT FG: York 10-for-31 (32.3%), SJF 5-for-21 (23.8%)
FT: York 16-for-21 (78.8%), SJF 16-for-21 (76.2%)
Rebounds: York 45, SJF 36
Assists: York 14, SJF 10
Turnovers: York 18, SJF 17
Blocked Shots: York 8, SJF 1
Steals: York 12, SJF 15
How It Happened:
• The Cardinals got off to a quick start as they sprinted out to a 9-4 lead. The Spartans battled back and tied the score at 11 on a Colin Rimel triple at the 15:35 mark. The lead ping-ponged back and forth over the next five minutes before Joe Polczynski hit a three at the 11:53 mark. That triple kick-started a 18-3 run that gave York a 35-20 lead with 6:36 left in the first half.
• The Spartans kept the lead in double figures the remainder of the half as the Green and White took a 11-point lead to the break. York was dynamic defensively in the first half as they limited the Cardinals to just 38.2% shooting in the half and 36 points. The Spartans forced seven turnovers while York was a sizzling 55.6% from the floor.
• The Cardinals hit a layup to start the second half to trim York's lead to nine. The Cardinals got to within nine two more times with the final time coming on a pair of Dennis Hare free throws with 16:01 left in the game. York answered with seven straight points in a minute and a half as the lead was back at 16.
• The Cardinals got a four-point play from Mark Valeriani got the Cardinals back to within 12 but the Green and White answered with a Sean Kelly layup, a Travis Stoll dunk and a Kelly three ball to push the lead back to 17. The Spartan lead got up to as many as 21 as York cruised to their 13th straight win. As good as the defense was in the opening half, the second 20 minutes may have been better. The Spartans harrassed the Cardinals to the tune of 32.3% from the floor as St. John Fisher scored just 31 points in the half.
Spartan Leaders:
David Giuliani: 16 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot
Darin Gordon: 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3-for-6 3PT
Jared Wagner: 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 12-for-15 FT
Sean Kelly: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
Joe Polczynski: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot
Cardinal Leaders:
Matt Asenjo: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals, 6-for-8 FT
Dennis Hare: 13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Sammy Robinson: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot, 3-for-12
Notes:
The Spartans are now 1-1 all-time against St. John Fisher … York improves to 7-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … York has won three straight first round NCAA Tournament games … York improved their win streak to 13 games, the longest streak since the 16-game heater the Green and White put together to open the 2017-18 season … York is now 2-0 in opening round games at neutral sites … York will face their 15th different NCAA Tournament opponent in their 15-game NCAA tournament history on Saturday … St. John Fisher is now 9-8 in NCAA tournament opening round games … the Spartans are ranked 25th in the most recent d3hoops.com poll, the first time they have been ranked this year … the Spartan seniors pushed their win total of 85 games, two short of matching the school record set in 2007-08 … York is now 3-1 in neutral site games this year … the Spartans are now 16-0 when outrebounding their opponent as York held a 45-36 advantage on the glass … York had 12 second chance points in the win … York improves to 19-2 when holding their opponents to under 45% shooting in the game as the Cardinals converted just 35.4% of their attempts from the field … York went 26-for-33 from the line and are now 12-1 when making more free throws than their opponent … York converted 7-of-15 from three in the opening half which propelled them to an 11 point halftime lead … York is now 22-3 when they place at least three players in double figures after placing five in double digits on Friday … York is 21-3 when registering more assists than their opponents … the Spartans have held their last 12 opponents to under 44% shooting from the floor … junior David Giuliani was again dynamic on the glass for the Spartans … Giuliani, one game off a career-high 21 rebounds, pulled in 13 caroms and added 16 points for his seventh double-double of the year … Giuliani was 7-for-11 from the floor while he was 2-for-2 from the line … sophomore Sean Kelly was outstanding for the Green and White as the guard poured in a career-high 12 points as he was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field including 1-for-1 from three and 3-for-6 from the stripe … Kelly also set a new career high with three steals … senior Darin Gordon continued his hot streak in the postseason as he tallied 15 points for his fourth straight game in double figures … Gordon has reached double figures nine of his last 10 games … Gordon is averaging 17.6 points per game in the post-season for the Green and White … senior Jared Wagner continues to creep closer to 1,500 points as he now has 1,489 points as he trails former teammate Dalton Myers for 10th on the all-time scoring list by 10 points … Wagner broke the Capital Athletic Conference record for single season assists as he now has 196 for the campaign … he entered the game tied with former Mary Washington guard David Love for the conference mark.
Up Next
The Spartans will face off against Mount Union in the second round of the tournament. Tip time from the McPherson Center is set for 7:30 pm. Mount Union enters Saturday night riding an 18-game win streak.