ARLINGTON, VA – The York College men's basketball team overcame an eight point second half deficit to record a 67-58 Capital Athletic Conference victory over Marymount University in Arlington, VA on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans, winners of four straight, improve to 11-7 overall and 6-3 in the CAC. The Saints fall to 4-13 overall and 1-8 in the league.
The offenses were clicking early on as the Spartans took an early 10-9 lead on the strength of two Mo Oursler three pointers. The game would go back-and-forth with four lead changes and four ties before the Saints went on a 12-3 run to take a 28-20 lead with 5:42 left in the half. The Spartans answered with a 10-4 run over the final 5:30 of the half as they went to the intermission trailing 32-30.
The Spartans cut the lead to one in the first 2:30 of the second half but the Saints put together an 11-4 run to take a 44-36 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game. York answered with a 7-0 spurt to trim their deficit to one but the Spartans would not be able to overtake the Saints for another eight minutes. York finally recaptured the lead on an Andrew Pawlyk tip in with 4:21 left in the game. The Saints tied the game at 52 on a Reed Scott free throw but York answered with a Paul Kouvaris hoop as they took a 54-52 lead. Marymount tied the game for a sixth and final time on a Jesse Konadu tip in with 3:16 remaining.
York took the lead for good on an Oursler three with 2:46 left as the senior's triple started the Spartans on a game-ending 13-4 run. The Spartans made 8-of-10 from the stripe over the final 2:24 of the game to seal the victory.
Oursler led four Spartans in double figures with 14 points as he was 5-for-9 from floor including 4-for-8 from three. Oursler also had two assists and two steals in his 33 minutes of work. Kouvaris and Julian Watson each added 12 points to the Spartan offensive attack. Kouvaris also pulled in seven rebounds, handed out four assists and collected three steals. Watson contributed four assists in addition to collecting four assists. Pawlyk played well off the bench for the Spartans as he tallied 10 points and pulled in a team-high nine rebounds.
Scott paced the Saints with a game-high 20 points as he was 9-for-12 from the floor including 1-for-1 from three and 1-for-3 from the stripe. Scott also pulled in seven rebounds for the Saints. Konadu was the other Saint in double figures with 15 points. John Magnani collected 10 rebounds to lead all rebounders in the game.
The Spartans shot 40.7% from the floor including 35.3% (6-for-17) from three. The Spartans were solid at the free throw line, knocking down 17-of-24 (70.8%) from the stripe. Marymount converted 44.4% of their attempts from the field including 5-of-12 (41.7%) from distance. The Saints made 5-of-9 (55.6%) from the line in the loss.
Marymount held a 36-31 edge on the glass, helping the Saints hold a 14-10 advantage in second-chance points. York did a fantastic job of taking care of the ball, committing just eight turnovers in the win. It is the second time this season the Spartans have had less than 10 turnovers in a game.
The Spartans return to Wolf Gymnasium on Wednesday evening for a key Capital Athletic Conference contest. Tip time is set for 8:00 pm. The Spartans and Bobcats enter the contest tied for third in the conference with identical 6-3 conference marks.