YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team dropped their third straight on Saturday as they fell to PSU Harrisburg 76-72 in Capital Athletic Conference action in York.
The Spartans fall to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in the CAC. All three of the Spartan losses during the streak have been close as the setbacks have come by a combined seven points. The Lions improve to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
Harrisburg led most of the game after York took a 6-2 lead to begin the game. The Lions held onto the lead until a late run got York right back into the contest. The Spartans trailed 61-52 on an Anthony Morgan lay up with 8:42 left in the game. The Green and White hit the Lions with a 16-6 run as they turned their nine-point deficit into a one-point lead with 3:51 left in the game. The run was fueled by a pair of three pointers by Mike Duffy (Hanover, Pa./South Western) and one huge shot-clock beating triple from the corner from Matt Scamuffo (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks South). The Spartans pushed their lead to three at 70-67 on a pair of Dalton Myers (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) free throws with 3:29 left.
That's when things started to get away from the Spartans. Jourdon Wilson hit a lay up 19 seconds after Myers free throws, cutting Harrisburg's deficit to one. The Spartans came up empty on their ensuing possession and Harrisburg captured the lead for good when they got two offensive rebounds followed by a made lay up to take a 71-70 lead.
The Lions got an offensive foul turnover and Jazmon Harris drained a back-breaking three pointer with 1:24 left to take a 74-70 lead. The teams traded a pair of fruitless offensive possessions which drained the clock down to 20 seconds. York got a pair of Chris Conway (Luthersville, Md./Dulaney) free throws to cut the Harrisburg lead to 74-72 with 11 seconds left. York was forced to foul and Harris banged both of his free throws to provide for the final four-point margin. York didn't get a shot off in the final ten seconds as Harrisburg defended the Spartans well.
The Lions looked like they were going to blow the Spartans out in the opening half as they pushed out to en eight-point lead on a Jourdan Wilson three with 9:49 left in the half. The Spartans answered by cutting the lead to four just over a minute later. The Lions scored the next five to take a nine-point lead, their largest of the game. Again, the Green and White cut into the lead as York trailed by three on three different occasions in the last five minutes of the half.
Harris led all scorers as the guard poured in 26 points in his 36 minutes of action. Harris was 8-for-16 from the floor including 6-of-12 from three. He also sunk all four of his free throw attempts in the game. Wilson was the other Lion to reach double figures with 18 points while he also had six assists in the win. Wilson was 8-for-16 from the field, 2-for-6 from three and 0-for-1 from the line. Kahlil Williams added nine points and five rebounds while Gbolahan Alliyu contributed six rebounds, four blocked shots and four points in 23 minutes of work.
Myers paced the Spartans as the junior had 21 points in 37 minutes of play. Myers was 5-for-8 from the floor including 2-for-2 from three. He made a career-high nine free throws in ten attempts at the stripe for the game. Myers also had three rebounds, three assists, and a blocked shot for YCP. Duffy contributed a season-high 14 points as the Spartan point guard was 3-for-5 from three in addition to 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Duffy also had four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Sophomore Blayde Reich (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) also had 14 points, three rebounds, and two assists in his 27 minutes of action. Scamuffo was the fourth Spartan in double figures with 11 points. He also had three assists and three steals for York.
Harrisburg finished the game shooting 50% from the floor, the fourth time this year that the Lions have made at least half their shots in a game. The Lions also shot 45% from three as Harrisburg made a season-high nine threes in their 20 attempts from distance. The Spartans shot 48% from the floor while they were a blistering 11-of-19 from three. The 11 makes are a season high for the Spartans while they also went 21-for-25 from the free throw line for an 84% conversion mark.
The Lions outrebounded York 31-25 with 13 of those boards coming on the offensive end. That led the Lions to a huge 16-4 advantage in second-chance points.
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday evening when they travel to Salisbury University to take on the defending CAC champion Sea Gulls. Tip time from Maggs Center is set for 7:30 pm.