YORK, PA – The Spartan men's basketball team needed more late game heroics and they got them from senior Jason Bady as he sank a pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds left to lift York to a 76-74 Capital Athletic Conference win over Mary Washington in the regular season finale. The Spartans have now won eight straight as they earned their second consecutive regular season championship, sharing the crown with Christopher Newport as they both finished 12-2 in the CAC. The one win the Spartans didn't get on Saturday was the coin flip for the first-place tiebreaker as the Captains won the toss and will be the top seed for the second year in a row over the Spartans.
Game #25 – Senior Day
Final Score: York (Pa.) 76, Mary Washington 74
Records: York 19-6 (12-2), Mary Washington 17-8 (9-5 CAC)
Field Goals: York 25-for-51, UMW 30-for-64
Field Goal %: York 49%, UMW 46.9%
Three Point FG: York 19-for-41, UMW 8-for-23
Three Point FG %: York 46.3%, UMW 34.8%
Free Throws: York 7-for-14, UMW 6-for-13
Free Throw %: York 50%, UMW 46.2%
Rebounds: York 33, UMW 35
Assists: York 21, UMW 12
Turnovers: York 16, UMW 9
Blocked Shots: York 5, UMW 1
Steals: York 7, UMW 11
How It Happened
• The Spartans could not have possibly started senior day any better. The Green and White hit their first seven shots with five of those shots being three pointers as York led 19-8 at the first media time out. The Spartan scoring pace slowed as the Eagles climbed back into the game, trimming York's lead to seven at 24-17 on a Greg Rowson three-point play with 10:16 left in the half.
• The Spartans answered that with a 9-0 run to push their lead to a half-high 16 points with 5:39 remaining in the stanza. The Spartan lead bounced between 13 and 16 points over the next three minutes but the Eagles carved into the Spartan advantage in the final two minutes of the half. Rowson hit a tough three just before the half as the Spartans took a 42-33 lead to the break.
• York shot 57.7% from the field in the first half while they shot 52.6% (10-for-19) from three in the opening half. The Eagles stayed in the game thanks to eight Spartan turnovers that they converted into 10 points.
• Junior Joey Polczynski came out of the break on fire as he drilled three three-pointers in the 3:33 of the second half to push the lead to a game-high 17 points at 54-37. Undeterred, the Eagles slowly started to climb back into the game as the Spartans went cold from the floor. The last Polczynski three in the run came at the 16:27 mark. The Eagles smacked the Spartans with an 23-3 run that gave Mary Washington a 62-57 lead, their biggest advantage in the game.
• York got off the mat and fashioned an 11-2 run that gave the Spartans a 68-64 lead with 5:15 remaining in the game.
• With the game tied at 68, Polczynski hit his eighth and final three to put the Spartans up 71-68 with 1:42 left. The Spartans got a stop on their next possession but York committed a turnover as the Eagles took a time out with 47 seconds left. The Spartans would force a missed lay-up but the Eagles turned the Spartans over almost immediately. However, Ra'Shawn Cook's lay-up was blocked in spectacular fashion by senior Jason Bady who then also got the defensive rebound and was fouled with 30 seconds left. Bady converted the pair to put York up five.
• The Eagles got a Ra'Shawn Cook driving lay-up to cut York's lead to three with 22 seconds left. The Spartans were fouled but missed the front end and Rowson grabbed the defensive rebound. Rowson was fouled and sank both free throws with 17 seconds left, cutting York's lead to one. Jared Wagner was fouled immediately and he made the first and missed the second to leave the York lead at one. Da'Shawn Cook took the ball to the basket off a high screen and scored, tying the game at 74 with six seconds left. Bady received the inbounds pass and as he was crossing mid court, was fouled with 4.1 seconds left. The senior was clutch once again, sinking both free throws to put York up two. The Eagles would be unable to get a shot off before the horn as York clinched their second straight CAC regular season title.
Spartan Leaders
Joey Polczynski: 24 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 8-for-12 3PT FG
Jason Bady: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocked shots, 2 steals
Mike Frauenheim: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
Zach Novick: 12 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Eagle Leaders
Greg Rowson: 20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
Da'Shawn Cook: 17 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 blocked shot, 2 steals
Ra'Shawn Cook: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Mark Madison: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Game Notes:
The Spartans and Eagles split the season series as York now holds a 37-36 lead in the all-time series … the Spartans last loss came against Mary Washington in Rosner Arena on January 19 … the Spartans completed the second run through the conference with perfect 7-0 mark … the win is the third in the last two weeks in which York has hit at least one free throw to win a game with under five seconds left in regulation … the regular season title is York's seventh in school history and it marks the third time the Spartans have won back-to-back regular season championships (93-94, 94-95, 2004-05, 05-06, 07-08, 17-18, 18-19) … the Spartans set a new school record with 19 three point field goals in the win, breaking the old mark of 17 set against Pitt-Greensburg on December 4, 2000 at the old Wolf Gymnasium and tied last year at home against Wesley … the Spartans attempted just 10 two-point shots in the game, going 6-of-10 inside the arc … York went just 7-of-14 at the free throw line, their second lowest total of made free throws this year … the 50% accuracy mark is their lowest of the season … the Eagles were worse from the line as they went just 6-of-13 from the stripe … York dished out 21 assists on 25 field goals and that's the fifth time this year they have registered 20 assists or more in a game … the Spartan senior class consisting of Jason Bady, Mike Frauenheim, and Nolan Smith are now 70-36 over their four year careers … if you take out the 10-15 mark as freshman, their record is 60-21 with two CAC regular season championships and one CAC tournament title … Frauenheim had a big first half as he tied his career-high with 14 points in the opening 20 minutes … Frauenheim was 5-for-5 from the floor including 4-for-4 from three … Joey Polczynski tied his career-high with 24 points as he was 8-for-12 from three … the eight three pointers made is second on the all-time single game list behind John Ely's nine against Marymount (2/16/2002) and Gallaudet (2/6/2002) and Matt Scamuffo at Salisbury (2/4/2017).
Up Next:
The Spartans kick off the second season as they will host St. Mary's College in the Capital Athletic Conference Quarterfinals at Charles Wolf Gymnasium. Tip time for the contest is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Tuesday, February 19. The winner of that game will face the winner of Mary Washington/Penn State Harrisburg in Thursday's semifinals at the highest remaining seed.