WOOSTER, OHIO – The York College men's basketball team saw their six-game win streak come to an end as #6 Marietta used a big second half to race past the Spartans 92-86 on Sunday in Wooster, Ohio. The game kicked off day two of the Great Lakes Invitational hosted by the College of Wooster.
The Pioneers outscored York 61-40 in the second half after York took a 15-point lead to the intermission. The loss came despite a career-high 35 points from senior guard Jared Wagner.
Records
York (Pa.): 9-3
#6 Marietta: 9-1
Team Stats
Score: York 86, Marietta 92
FG: York 31-for-64 (48.8%), Marietta 30-for-64 (46.9%)
3PT FG: York 12-for-35 (34.3%), Marietta 8-for-19 (42.1%)
FT: York 12-for-15 (80%), Marietta 24-for-31 (77.4%)
Rebounds: York 26, Marietta 45
Assists: York 15, Marietta 9
Turnovers: York 9, Marietta 13
Blocked Shots: York 6, Marietta 2
Steals: York 9, Marietta 7
How It Happened:
• The game was played at high energy from the very start. The Pioneers jumped out a quick lead but the Spartans took a three-point lead on a pair of Darin Gordon lay up at the 16:36 mark. The teams would go back and forth over the next five minutes before York took a 20-19 lead on a pair of Jared Wagner free throws.
• The Green and White slowly started to pull away as York put together a 21-7 run that gave York a game-high 46-29 lead with 1:55 left in the half. The Pioneers got a pair of Jason Ellis free throws to close out the half as York took a 15-point lead to the break.
• York shot 53.1% from the floor in the first half while they limited Marietta to 38.7% shooting in the first half. York forced 10 first half turnovers which they turned into 12 points. The Pioneers did have nine offensive rebounds which they turned into six second chance points. Marietta offensive rebounding would be a problem for the Green and White in the second half of the game.
• The Spartans opened the second half with a Wagner lay-up to push the lead back to 17. Unfortunately for York, the Spartan offense would go dry over the next four minutes as the Pioneers scored 11 straight points to trim the York lead to six at 48-42. The Pioneers cut the York lead to one before Zach Novick hit a big three with 11:26 left in the game. That three held Marietta off another three minutes before Jake Montgomery hit a jumper at the 8:35 mark to give the Pioneers their first lead since early in the first half.
• The Pioneers took the lead as part of an 11-1 run as they pushed out to a 66-60 lead with 6:55 left. Marietta built their advantage to seven before the Spartans scored five straight to draw to within two at 69-67. Marietta responded with an 8-1 run to take a 79-70 lead with 1:02 left in the game.
• The Spartans had to lengthen the game so York had to start fouling to extend the contest. The Pioneers kept the Spartans at arm's length as they went 15-for-16 from the free throw line over the final 1:02 of the game, foiling the Spartan strategy. The Spartans did their part on the offensive end as they scored 16 points in the final minute of play but Marietta's accuracy at the free throw line didn't allow for a Spartan comeback.
Spartan Leaders:
Jared Wagner: 35 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 13-for-19 FG, 8-for-10 FT
Darin Gordon: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocked shots
Joe Polczynski: 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
David Giuliani: 13 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocked shots
Pioneer Leaders:
Jason Ellis: 36 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 10-for-18 FG, 6-for-11 3PT, 10-for-11 FT
Tim Kreeger: 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot, 7-for-10 FG
Mason Lydic: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Notes:
The meeting is the first between the two programs … two of York's losses have come to nationally ranked squads as Marietta is sixth in the country while Johns Hopkins is currently ranked 13th in the nation … senior Jared Wagner became the Spartans' all-time leader in steals with his second half theft … he now has 244 career steals, passing former Spartan great Jeff Landis for the lead in the category … Wagner's 35 points set a new career high, surpassing the 33 points he scored last November against Johns Hopkins at Wolf Gymnasium … Wagner climbed to 17th on the career scoring list as he now has 1,182 career points … Wagner passed four other players including former teammate Jason Bady (1,154 points) … senior Darin Gordon notched a career-high tying 18 points as he was 6-for-12 from the floor including 4-for-9 from three … Gordon has reached 18 points two other times in his career (vs. F&M on November 25, 2018 and at Delaware Valley on December 1, 2018) … the four three-point field goals ties his career high … the Spartans lost for the first time this year when leading at halftime as they are now 8-1 when leading at the break … the Spartans lost for the first time when placing at least three players in double figures … one problem for York was bench scoring as Zach Novick had all six of York's bench points in the game … the Marietta bench outscored their counterparts from York 23-6 … York scored over 80 points for the ninth time this year but lost for the first time when scoring over 80 points … York scored 59 and 57 in their previous two losses … the 92 points are the most surrendered by the Green and White this year … York had just nine offensive rebounds in their two games this weekend … York suffered a 19-rebound deficit in the loss as they were outrebounded in both games for the weekend … the Spartans have won the battle on the glass in eight of their 12 games … York committed just nine turnovers in the loss as they have had single digits in turnovers in three of their last four games.
Up Next
The Spartans are now off until Saturday, January 4 when they will host Albertus Magnus in the opening round of the 2020 Spartan Basketball Classic at Charles Wolf Gymnasium. Tip time is slated for 4:00 pm. Marymount and Coast Guard will face off in the second game of the tournament on Saturday evening.