YORK, PA – Senior forward Paul Kouvaris scored 23 points including his 1,000th career point but it was not enough to lift the York College men's basketball team to victory as the Spartans fell to PSU-Abington 83-73 on Wednesday night in the opening round of the 2011 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in York.
The Spartans fall to 6-5 overall and will now face Delaware Valley in the tournament's consolation game on Thursday at 1:00 pm. Abington improves to 3-5 for the year and will face an undefeated Hartwick squad, who downed Delaware Valley 82-68 in the other semifinal, in the tournament championship game at 3:00 pm.
Kouvaris joined the 1,000-career point club with 8:16 remaining in the first half. He received the ball on the left wing, drove baseline and kissed the ball off glass for the milestone bucket. He is the 20th Spartan to join the exclusive club. He achieved the milestone in his 87th career game.
Kouvaris' historic basket gave the Spartans a short-lived 21-20 lead after the Lions had taken an early six-point advantage. The game would be back and forth over the final eight minutes of the first half as there were three ties and four lead changes. The Spartans took a 38-32 lead to the break.
York led at the half despite shooting just 38.7% from the floor and 36.4% (4-for-11) from three. The Spartans also had ten first half turnovers.
The Lions came out of the break and got back-to-back baskets from Mike Marvin as the guests took a two-point lead. York's Jeremy Skoloda tied the game at 40 and the two teams would trade baskets before a Mike Colacci three provided the Lions with a lead they would not lose the remainder of the game. The Lions scored 19 of the game's next 30 points to forge a 64-53 lead with 8:33 remaining in the game.
Abington increased the lead to 12 with 5:31 left but York made a spirited run to get back into the game. York went to full court pressure and as they got a Julian Watson lay up followed by three straight turnovers and five Spartan free throws in 19 seconds, drawing York to within five at 72-67.
That proved to be York's last gasp as the Lions went on an 11-4 run to secure the win.
Marvin powered the Lions with 24 points and 13 rebounds while Colaccio contributed 23 points. Marvin was 12-for-18 from the floor in his 31 minutes of work. Colaccio was 5-for-12 from the floor including 3-for-9 from three. He also converted 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Don DeLeo was the third Lion in double figures with 14 points including four three pointers in six attempts.
The Lions finished the game with 10 threes as they shot 41.7% from distance. Abington shot 49.2% from the field in the win while they converted 11-of-15 from the free throw line.
Kouvaris finished the game shooting 8-for-13 from the floor while he also converted a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Kouvaris pulled in nine rebounds while he also had a pair of blocks in the loss. Junior Mitch Kemp was the other Spartan in double figures with 13 points while he also had five rebounds and two steals.
The Spartans shot a season-low 38.2% from the floor while they struggled from three going just 6-for-26 (23.1%) from distance. York was sharp from the free throw line, converting 15-for-18 (83.3%) from the stripe.