FREDERICKSBURG, VA – The York College men's basketball team dropped a 73-67 Capital Athletic Conference decision at the University of Mary Washington on Saturday afternoon in Fredericksburg, VA. The Eagles remain in first place in the conference as they improve to 5-0 in the league and 10-4 overall. The Spartans are now 7-7 overall and 2-3 in the conference.
York jumped out to an early 9-4 on the power of a trio of three pointers, two from senior Mo Oursler and one from junior Jeremy Skoloda. The Spartans retained the lead until the Eagles tied the game at 12 on the first of two free throws from Henry Brisibe with 12:32 left in the first. Those free throws were part of a 19-8 run that allowed UMW to take a 27-20 lead late in the first half. The Eagles pushed the lead to nine at the break as they took a 30-21 advantage to the intermission.
Mary Washington increased the lead to 14 with five points to start the second half. However, the Spartans answered with a prolonged 15-2 run, cutting the Eagle lead to just one at 37-36 with 13:07 left in the game. The run was capped by a pair of Oursler threes as the Green and White worked themselves back into the game. The Eagles worked their advantage back to six before York made another charge, trimming their deficit back to one on a pair of Andrew Pawlyk free throws with 9:04 remaining.
The Eagles answered York's challenge with a 12-0 spurt that pushed their advantage back into double figures. York continued to battle, getting the margin back down into single digits but the Green and White couldn't get any closer than four the rest of the way.
The game was very sloppy as the teams combined for 46 turnovers while they had just 43 field goals combined. The Spartans committed a season-high 25 turnovers. That was six more miscues than their previous high which came against Gettysburg earlier in the year. Mary Washington held a significant 21-12 edge in points off turnovers.
Mary Washington placed three players in double figures led by Ryan Farrar as the guard tossed in 16 points as he was 4-for-9 from the floor including 4-for-8 from three while he also made 4-of-6 at the line. Tad Dickman contributed 15 points, eight rebounds, and two blocked shots in his 32 minutes of work. Taylor Johnson was the third Eagle in double figures with 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting including 1-of-1 from three and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.
Oursler and fellow senior Paul Kouvaris led the Spartans with 18 points each. Oursler drained a career-high six three pointers while he also had six rebounds in 37 minutes of play. Kouvaris also had six rebounds as he was 5-for-7 from the floor and 8-for-13 from the free throw line. Junior Julian Watson was the third Spartan in double figures with 12 points while he also had five rebounds and five assists.
York finished the game shooting 44.4% from the floor including 52% (13-of-25) in the second half. The Spartans tied a season-high with 10 three pointers as they shot 43.5% from beyond the arc.
Mary Washington converted 46.9% of their attempts from the floor while they shot 45.5% (10-for-22) from distance. The Eagles converted 17-of-26 (65.4%) from the stripe in the win.
The Spartans conclude their three-game road trip with a Capital Athletic Conference contest at Hood College on Wednesday evening. Tip time in Frederick, MD is set for 8:00 pm.