LEXINGTON, VA – The York College men's basketball team fashioned one of the more improbable scripts of the year as they overcame an 18-point deficit to earn a 118-110 overtime win over the host Washington & Lee Generals in the championship game of the W&L Holiday Tournament on Saturday in Lexington, Virginia.
The game featured a 44 point, 19 rebound performance from tournament MVP Blayde Reich and an equally impressive 35 point effort from Dalton Myers in leading York to their second tournament championship of the year. York improves to 11-0 for the first time in the 49-year history of the Spartan program. The win snaps the Generals' eight game home win streak.
Reich was joined by Myers on the All-Tournament team.
Game #11 – Washington & Lee Holiday Tournament Championship Game
Records: #25 York 11-0, #2 W&L 7-3
Final Score: York 118, W&L 110 in OT
Field Goals: York 37-for-73, W&L 39-for-85
Field Goal %: York 50.7%, W&L 45.9%
Three Point FG: York 10-for-28, W&L 13-for-31
Three Point FG %: York 35.7%, W&L 41.9%
Free Throws: York 34-for-47, W&L 19-for-30
Free Throw %: York 72.3%, W&L 63.3%
Rebounds: York 55, W&L 38
Assists: York 26, W&L 18
Blocked Shots: York 7, W&L 6
Steals: York 7, W&L 13
How It Happened
• After York got off to a quick start, the Generals started pushing the tempo against the Spartans who played in the second game yesterday, an overtime win over #2 Middlebury. The Spartans led 13-6 but the Generals went on a 24-6 run to push out to an 11-point advantage with 7:15 left in the first half.
• The Generals kept bombing away as they increased the lead to 18 on a Nicholas George triple with 4:47 left in the half as it looked like W&L was on the verge of blowing the Green and White out of the building. York promptly responded with a Jared Wagner three-point play and a Blayde Reich bucket on the ensuing possession to cut their deficit to 15. The Generals led by 13 with 2:05 left in the stanza but York finished the half on an 8-3 run to cut the General lead to eight (51-43) heading to the break. The 18 point deficit was York's largest of the year, surpassing the previous high of 11 points as York trailed by that many in the games against Mary Washington and Dickinson.
• The Generals came out of the half and continued to keep the Spartans at arms length. The Generals pulled out to a 58-48 lead just over four minutes into the half. York ripped off a quick 9-2 spurt to get to within three at 60-57. Washington & Lee continued to hold the lead until Dalton Myers tied the game at 75 on a three pointer with 8:07 left in the game. Roy McMillian answered that triple with a three of his own as the Generals recaptured the lead. W&L would hold on to the advantage until Myers banged another triple to put York up 87-86 with 3:54 left in regulation.
• That three set up a dramatic final four minutes of play as the final segment of regulation featured four ties and four lead changes. The Spartans took a 96-91 lead with 1:35 left but McMillian drilled a three and then hit a pair of clutch free throws with 32 seconds left, tying the game at 96. Myers had a chance to win it with nine seconds left but his twisting lay up missed the mark. Devin Kearns got the ball over half court and was forced to rush a long shot that missed everything as the two teams headed to an extra session.
• York got on the board first in overtime courtesy of a Myers lay up 23 seconds into the frame. The Spartans would not lose the lead in the extra session as they continued to hit key shots and also perform well at the free throw line. McMillian hit a lay up with 1:15 left, cutting York's lead to three (109-106) but the Spartans scored seven of the next nine points to push the lead to eight with seven seconds. The teams exchanged points late as York earned the 118-110 win. Reich and Jared Wagner were brilliant in overtime as Reich had nine points and three rebounds while Wagner had eight points including 5-for-6 from the free throw line. York went 11-for-14 from the stripe in the extra session, a far cry from yesterday's struggles from the line against Middlebury. York was also 5-for-7 from the floor in the overtime as York scored 22 points in the five-minute extra session.
Spartan Leaders
Blayde Reich: 44 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal, 16-for-23 FG, 3-for-5 3PT FG, 9-for-12 FT
Dalton Myers: 35 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 blocked shots, 11-for-18 FG, 3-for-6 3PT FG, 10-for-11 FT
Jared Wagner: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals
Jason Bady: 13 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
Washington & Lee Leaders
Roy McMillan: 35 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocked shots, 6 steals, 14-for-20 FG, 3-for-7 3PT FG, 4-for-5 FT
Devin Kearns: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals
Nicholas George: 19 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
William Brueggeman: 15 points, 1 assist, 2 steals
Clayton Murtha: 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots
Game Notes:
The meeting is the tenth in the series with the Generals holding a 7-3 advantage in the all-time series … Prior to today's Spartan win, the Generals had won three straight in the series but the two teams haven't met since November 17, 1984 … W&L is 4-2 against the Spartans at the Warner Center … there were all kinds of numbers from the game as the Spartan single game record book will get a face lift after today's contest … senior Blayde Reich's 44 points are tied for the second-highest total in school history while his 19 rebounds are second all time … Reich's point total ties his with York College Hall of Famer Andy O'Brien for second on the single game scoring list, three points behind Jeff Mann's school record of 47 points, set during the 1991-92 campaign against Western Maryland (now McDaniel) … O'Brien's 44 point outing came during his senior day game against St. Mary's on February 22, 2003 … His 19 rebounds are three short of Jason Hunt's school record 22 boards set in a win over St. Mary's on January 26, 2002 … Reich's 16 made field goals ties him for third on the single game list … fellow senior Dalton Myers set a new career standard with 35 points, eclipsing his previous high of 34 set during his freshman year against Lebanon Valley … Myers passed the 1,200 point plateau as he now has 1,217 points, good for 14th on the all-time list as he passed former standout guard Julian Watson (1,208) in the win … senior Matt Scamuffo is another Spartan climbing the scoring list as he now has 1,155 points, good for 16th place on the all-time list as he passed Mike Donahue in the game … Scamuffo set a new career mark with his five assists in the game … junior Jason Bady had a good weekend for the Spartans as he just missed a pair of career highs in the win as he pulled in eight rebounds (career-high 9 vs. Frostburg State) and dished out 5 assists (career-high 6 vs. Gettysburg) … in the last three games, guard Jared Wagner has gone to the line 30 times and has converted 22 … his 14 trips today, tied his career high, a mark set last Tuesday at Dickinson … after shooting 50% (16-for-32) from the free throw line against Middlebury, the Spartans were much better from the stripe in the win over the Generals as York went 34-for-47 (72.3%) … the 34 makes are the second highest single game total in school history (40 at Frostburg State on January 27, 2011) … the 47 attempts were the third highest total in school history … York made 10 three pointers for the second straight game as they have now reached double figures in three pointers made in six of their 11 games for the year … York's 26 assists tied their season high set on opening night against Pitt-Bradford … the 118 points mark the second time York has gone over the century mark this year and it's the fourth highest single game point total, three back of third and 12 behind the all-time record of 130 (vs. Allentown during the 1969-70 season) … York collected 55 rebounds in the win and the plus 17 rebounding margin were both season highs for the Spartans … the 55 rebounds are the seventh highest total in school history … after not playing an overtime game in the previous nine games, York had to go back-to-back OT games in the tournament … Reich has now been named the Tournament MVP in both of York's in-season tournament championships while Myers has earned all-tournament team honors in both championships.
Up Next:
Today's game concludes the Spartans' non-conference slate as the remaining 14 games on York's regular season schedule are all Capital Athletic Conference contests. The Spartans continue their five game road trip on Wednesday night when they head to Salisbury University to take on the Sea Gulls in a key conference contest. Tip time from the Maggs Center is set for 7:30 pm.