DOVER, DEL. – The York College men's basketball team had a tough assignment in their conference opener on Sunday. The Spartans had to travel to a red-hot Wesley and the Wolverines remained hot with a 70-56 Capital Athletic Conference win in Dover.
The Wolverines improve to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the CAC while the Spartans, losers of four straight, fall to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the league.
The plan for the Green and White was simple. Make the talented Wolverines beat the Spartans from the perimeter, taking away the CAC's leading scorer David Langan. The Spartans were successful in holding down Langan but James Livingston and Eric Selby stepped up and knocked down a combined nine three point field goals to defeat the solid Spartan game plan.
The Spartans kept the game close early as the contest was tied at nine just over four minutes into the game. The Wolverines then embarked on a 12-3 run keyed by a pair of Selby three-point field goals. York cut their deficit to seven on a pair of Mike Mathews (Newark, Del./Salesianum) free throws at the 9:06 mark.
Wesley then reeled off a sustained 17-6 run, pushing their lead to 18 at 38-20 with 2:12 left in the first half. York didn't roll over as they finished the half outscoring their hosts 9-4 to take a 42-29 deficit to the locker room.
York carried their late first half momentum into the start of the second half as York scored six of the eight points of the half, cutting the Wesley lead back to single digits at nine. The Wolverines answered with a 10-4 run, pushing the lead back to 15 with 13:55 left in the game. York would trim their deficit to 10 but that is as close as they would get the rest of the way.
Livingston led all scorers as he poured in 21 points in addition to grabbing eight rebounds. Livingston was 7-for-17 from the floor including 5-for-10 from distance and 2-for-3 from the line. Selby, who enter the game averaging 6.4 points per game, exploded for a season-high 14 points including four three-point field goals. Quincy Pettiford contributed 10 points and seven rebounds as Wesley's third double figure scorer. Langan added seven points, eight rebounds, three assists, five steals and two blocks in 24 minutes of play. Langan entered the game averaging a conference best 23 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.
Mathews led the Spartans in his return to his home state as he notched 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and a steal in 31 minutes of play. Mathews was 5-for-13 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the line. Freshman Dalton Myers (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) was the other Spartan in double figures as he tallied 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Senior Matt McNeely (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) returned to the Spartan lineup after missing the Messiah game and recorded six points and five rebounds in his 22 minutes of play.
York finished the game converting 41.8% of their attempts from the field including 3-for-8 from beyond the arc. York went to the line just eight times but made seven of those attempts. Wesley shot 39.1% from the floor but drained 11 of their 31 three-point attempts (35.5%). The Wolverines only went to the line nine times in a game that featured only 21 total fouls in the 40 minutes of play.
Wesley held a slight 39-38 edge in total rebounding including a 15-8 margin in offensive rebounds. Wesley attempted 14 more shots as York committed 19 turnovers to just 10 for the Wolverines.
The Spartans return home on Wednesday night when they host CAC newcomer Penn State Harrisburg in a conference contest. Tip time at Wolf Gymnasium is set for 8:00 pm.