MIDDLETOWN, PA – York College sophomore guard Tyler Alcid (Mt. Airy, Md./South Carroll) hit an 18-foot jumper at the horn to lift the Spartans to a 59-58 overtime win at Penn State Harrisburg on Wednesday night in the Capital Athletic Conference opener for both squads.
The win is the first of the year for the Spartans as they are now 1-5 overall and 1-0 in the league. The loss leaves the Lions winless, as they are now 0-7 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
The game never looked like it was going to get to overtime as the Lions took control of the contest midway through the first half. With York leading 11-8, the Lions went on a 17-7 run to close out the opening stanza as they took a 26-18 lead to the break.
The Lions came out of the break and quickly pushed the lead to 12 points. The Green and White slowly worked their way back into the game. York trimmed their deficit to four points on a Max Bell (Finksburg, Md. / Francis Scott Key) lay up with 11:23 left in regulation. The Lions responded with a Caleb Barwin three to push the lead back to seven. York continued to battle as they scored the next seven points of the game, tying the contest at 43. That began a stretch of back and forth basketball that would result in the two teams heading to overtime.
With the game tied at 43, Joshua Johnson canned a three to give the hosts a three-point lead. Alcid answered with a jumper, cutting York's deficit to one. Alberto De Los Santos hit a lay up to push the lead back to three at 48-45. That would be the last time Harrisburg scored in regulation.
Bell cut the Lion lead back to one with 2:56 left as he hit another bucket. With 1:03 left in regulation, Mike Duffy (Hanover, Pa./South Western) hit a free throw to tie the game at 48 with 1:03 left.
De Los Santos missed a three pointer and Duffy missed a three on the Spartans' ensuing possession. Arick Sodini missed the front end of a one-and-one and York got the defensive rebound. The Spartans turned the ball over with two seconds left. After a timeout, De Los Santo's got a clean look from three but his shot at the buzzer just missed the mark, forcing overtime.
Harrisburg got off to a great start in overtime as the Lions scored five of the first seven points of the extra session. With the Spartans facing a 55-50 deficit, Alcid got the Spartans going with a pair of free throws with 1:20 left in the overtime. After a missed jumper, Dalton Myers (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) was fouled and canned both free throws, cutting the Harrisburg lead to 55-54 with 54 seconds left.
Harrisburg's Sodini hit what looked like a backbreaking three pointer from the top of the key with 35 seconds left as the Spartans trailed by four.
Senior Chris Conway (Luthersville, Md./Dulaney) made a huge play for York as he aggressively attacked the basket and converted a traditional three-point play with 24 seconds left. With the Spartans down one and the shot clock off, York fouled De Los Santos with 20 seconds left. The senior guard missed the front end of the one-and-one and Conway collected the rebound. Duffy missed a tough shot in the lane and De Los Santos collected the rebound and was fouled with four seconds left. Again, the senior guard missed the free throw setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
Conway grabbed the rebound off the De Los Santos miss and raced down the floor. He temporarily lost the handle on the ball but kept his composure and found Alcid on the right wing. Alcid got the shot off with less than .5 seconds left and the ball found nothing but the bottom of the net as the Spartan bench erupted with pure joy, mobbing Alcid in the process.
Bell made his first career game a memorable one as he registered a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes. Bell was 6-for-8 from the floor in the victory. Myers added 11 points and three assists while Alcid's 11 points were a new career high for the sophomore. Alcid was 3-for-8 from the floor including 1-for-2 from three and 4-for-4 from the stripe. Conway was the fourth Spartan in double figures with 10 points while he also had four rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes. Freshman Blayde Reich (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) chipped in with seven rebounds and four points for York.
Sodini led the Lions as he tallied 13 points, six rebounds, and two assists in 30 minutes. Sodini was 5-for-12 from the floor including 2-for-2 from three and 1-for-3 from the line. Nick Seefeldt was the other Lion in double figures with 11 points. De Los Santos added eight points, eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
The Spartans shot 36.8% from the floor for the game while they were 4-for-14 from three. York went 13-for-19 (68.4%) from the free throw line.
The Lions finished the game shooting 38.3% from the floor and 23.6% (5-for-21) from three. Harrisburg converted 7-for-11 from the line but was 0-for-1 in the second half and 0-for-2 in the overtime.
York outrebounded the Lions 45-35 in the game while they held a 14-4 margin in second chance points. York was sloppy with the ball as they committed a season-high 19 turnovers.
The Spartans return to action on Saturday afternoon when they host Mary Washington in a Capital Athletic Conference contest. Tip time at Wolf Gymnasium is set for 3:00 pm.