YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team picked up their second straight win as they downed the University of Mary Washington 63-52 in Capital Athletic Conference play on Saturday in York.
The Spartans improve to 2-5 overall including 2-0 in the league. The Eagles, the defending league champion, fall to 0-7 overall and 0-2 in the conference. Five of the seven UMW losses have come by single digits.
The Eagles got off to a fantastic start as they led 11-2 just over five minutes into the game. UMW built the lead to 11 at 21-10 before the Spartans started to come back. York went on a 14-6 run to pull to within three at 27-24 with 4:01 left in the half. The Eagles maintained their lead until Brad Wesner (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) scored the final four points of the half to trim the Spartan deficit to one at 31-30 at the break.
The Green and White took their first lead of the game just 25 seconds into the second half as Mike Duffy (Hanover, Pa./South Western) drilled a triple to put York up by two. The lead would teeter between the two squads over the next six minutes before the Spartans took the lead for good when Tyler Alcid (Mt. Airy, Md./South Carroll) cashed out a three from the top of the key to give York a 43-39 lead.
After York pushed the lead to six, the Eagles cut the York advantage to one on a John Lutkenhaus lay up with 2:59 left. That would be the last time the Eagles would score in the game as the York defense stepped up and gave the offense a chance to put the game away.
Alcid answered Lutkenhaus's bucket with a tough lay up on York's next possession. After Duffy drew an offensive foul to get the ball back, Alcid found Wesner along the baseline for a wide open three that pushed the York lead to 58-52 lead with 1:04 left. York would go on to score the final 10 points of the game to earn the 11-point win.
Wesner led the Spartans as the sophomore registered a career-high 17 points off the bench. Wesner added three rebounds, four assists, and two steals in his 28 minutes of action. Alcid also recorded a new career-high as he recorded 12 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Dalton Myers (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) contributed nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Eagles were led by senior standout Taylor Johnson as he tallied a team-high 14 points, pulled in eight rebounds, dished out four assists, and had four steals in 38 minutes of action. Lutkenhaus pulled in a game-high nine rebounds while he also scored five points for the Eagles. Eric Shaw added eight points and four rebounds in 18 minutes as he was saddled with foul trouble during the game.
York finished the game shooting 46.2% including 52% in the second half. The Spartans canned 6-of-15 (40%) from downtown while they converted 9-of-15 (60%) from the stripe.
The Eagles shot 31.1% for the game but York hounded them into just 26.9% shooting in the second half. UMW was 6-for-21 (28.6%) from three and 66.7% (10-for-15) from the stripe.
The Spartans held a very slight 36-35 advantage on the glass while both teams committed 16 turnovers. York scored 21 points off the UMW miscues while the Green and White also had a 30-24 margin in points in the paint.
The York bench also came up huge with a 33-18 scoring advantage over their counterparts in the win.
York returns to action on Saturday, December 20 when they host Wesley College in a CAC contest. Tip time at Wolf Gymnasium is set for 2:00 pm.