YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team picked up a big non-conference win as the Spartans upset the #12 Swarthmore College Garnet 83-79 at Charles Wolf Gymnasium in York on Wednesday evening. The win extends the Spartans' school record win streak to start the season to eight while the Garnet fall for the first time this year and are now 8-1.
Game #8
Records: York 8-0, Swarthmore 8-1
Final Score: York 83, Swarthmore 79
Field Goals: York 24-for-50, Swarthmore 29-for-61
Field Goal %: York 48.0%, Swarthmore 47.5%
Three Point FG: York 15-for-32, Swarthmore 8-for-26
Three Point FG %: York 46.9%, Swarthmore 30.8%
Free Throws: York 20-for-31, Swarthmore 13-for-22
Free Throw %: York 64.5%, Swarthmore 59.1%
Rebounds: York 32, Swarthmore 37
Assists: York 17, Swarthmore 12
Blocked Shots: York 2, Swarthmore 4
Steals: York 3, Swarthmore 7
How It Happened
• The start of the game felt very much like a heavyweight fight as the two teams spent the early minutes feeling each other out. York got a trio of threes early in the game as Dalton Myers, Blayde Reich, and Jason Bady each found the bottom of the net from distance early as York took an 11-7 lead. The Garnet tied the game at 13 and proceeded to push out to an 18-13 lead with 12:17 left in the first half.
• Swarthmore would continue to extend the lead, pushing out to a 32-25 edge thanks to a pair of Nate Schafer free throws with 6:29 remaining in the half. The Spartans started their come back with a Joey Polczynski triple. That trey kick started an 11-1 run that gave the Spartans a 36-33 lead with 1:18 left in the half. Swat's Ryan Ingram hit a three to tie the game with 46 seconds left and Jared Wagner split a pair of free throws to give York a 37-36 lead. However, Zack Yonda hit a tough lay up with four seconds left in the half to give Swarthmore a 38-37 lead at the break. It's just the second time York has trailed at the break.
• The second half started with a Reich three as the Spartans recaptured the lead. That started a flurry of back and forth action as the first ten minutes of the stanza featured five lead changes and three ties. Swarthmore took a 52-49 lead on an Ingram three pointer but the Spartans responded by ripping off a 10-1 run highlighted by five points from Myers as York seized a 59-53 lead with 8:50 left in the game.
• The Garnet had another run left in them as they responded like a championship squad. Swarthmore scored eight straight points to take a 61-59 lead. Zack Yonda had a three pointer and a pair of free throws to power the Swarthmore spurt.
• York took the lead back for good just a minute later as Matt Scamuffo drained a triple to put York up 65-63 with 5:25 left in the game. That three started a 9-0 run that gave York a game-high eight-point lead with 4:02 left in the game. Six of the nine points came at the free throw line as Myers was 4-for-4 and Reich made both of his attempts.
• York would need all eight points of that lead as the Garnet got back-to-back buckets from Abass Sallah and Yonda to cut York's lead to 73-71 with 2:20 left. Myers was fouled and converted the first free throw. He missed the second but Reich got his biggest rebound of the night as he punched the ball back out towards mid court where the Spartans got a fresh shot clock with 2:09 left. Wagner then stuck a dagger three from the top of the key with the shot clock running down to push York's lead back to six at 77-71.
• The squads would go back and forth over the final 1:30 of play. Swarthmore would score and then send the Spartans to the line. York made enough free throws to hold the Garnet at bay and pick up the four-point win.
Spartan Leaders
Dalton Myers: 22 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 7-for-13 FG, 3-for-7 3PT FG, 5-for-6 FT
Matt Scamuffo: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 6-for-14 FG, 4-for-10 3PT FG, 4-for-6 FT
Jared Wagner: 12 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal, 2-for-3 3PT FG, 6-for-10 FT
Blayde Reich: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3-for-7 FG, 2-for-5 3PT FG, 4-for-6 FT
Joey Polczynski: 7 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 2-for-4 3PT FG, 1-for-2 FT
Swarthmore Leaders
Zack Yonda: 21 points, 1 rebound, 7-for-10 FG, 3-for-6 3PT FG, 4-for-4 FT
Nate Shafer: 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocked shots, 6-for-7 FG, 3-for-4 FT
Cam Wiley: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 5-for-12 FG, 1-for-5 3PT FG, 2-for-2 FT
Ryan Ingram: 11 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 4-for-7 FG, 3-for-5 3PT FG, 0-for-2 FT
Game Notes:
The meeting with the Garnet is the first in the 49-year history of the Spartan program … the Spartans have never been 8-0 to start a season in the history of the program … the Spartans are now 2-0 against the Centennial Conference after beating Gettysburg and Swarthmore … York plays their final Centennial Conference opponent on Tuesday at Dickinson … the Spartans made a season-high 15 three pointers as they shot 46.9% from beyond the arc in the win … York has now made double figures in three point field goals in five of their eight games … the Spartans' 30 trips to the free throw line is their second highest total of the season (34 vs. Frostburg State and 30 at Wesley) … the 50 field goal attempts were a season low for the Spartans … York had 17 assists on 24 field goals … York was outrebounded for just the third time this year and the five rebound margin was their largest rebounding deficit of the year … the Garnet got 27 second chance points in the game on their 17 offensive rebounds … Swarthmore outscored York 38-14 in the paint and that was just the second time that happened all season (vs. Gettysburg, 36-32) … the game featured eight ties and 12 lead changes … the win is the third over a nationally ranked opponent during the six-year tenure of head coach Matt Hunter … the Spartans beat #6 Wesley on February 6, 2014 and #24 Scranton on November 18, 2017 … senior Dalton Myers is now tied for 16th on the all-time scoring list with Todd Witmer (1983-86) with 1,149 points … Myers now has 16 career games of 20 points or more … senior Matt Scamuffo is now 19th on the all-time scoring with 1,126 points, passing Jeff Landis at 1,111 points … Scamuffo now has 187 three point field goals, passing Johnny Baer (184) for fifth place … Scamuffo will now set his sights on Andy O'Brien (205) for fourth place on the list … sophomore Joey Polczynski tied his career highs for points (7) and rebounds (6) in the win.
Up Next:
The Spartans return to action on Tuesday, December 19 when they face their second consecutive Centennial Conference opponent as they travel to Carlisle to face the Dickinson College Red Devils. Tip time at the Kline Center is set for 7:00 pm.