YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball suffered their second straight loss as Albertus Magnus edged the Spartans 76-73 in the opening game of the 2020 York College Spartan Classic. The Spartans had a three in the air at the horn but the shot was just a touch long as York dropped the hard-fought contest. The Spartans last two losses have come to teams that are a combined 19-2. Albertus Magnus has now won 10 straight after a loss to Lynchburg to open their season.
Records
York (Pa.): 9-4
Albertus Magnus: 10-1
Team Stats
Score: York 73, Albertus Magnus 76
FG: York 26-for-62 (41.9%), AMC 32-for-66 (48.5%)
3PT FG: York 9-for-32 (28.1%), AMC 5-for-17 (29.4%)
FT: York 12-for-15 (80%), AMC 7-for-12 (58.3%)
Rebounds: York 35, AMC 39
Assists: York 12, AMC 7
Turnovers: York 19, AMC 19
Blocked Shots: York 5, AMC 3
Steals: York 11, AMC 12
How It Happened:
• The Spartans got off to a good start as they scored 13 of the first 18 points of the game. The Spartans got three pointers from Darin Gordon, Joe Polczynski, and David Giuliani to get off to the early lead. The Falcons slowly worked themselves back into the game as they battled back to take a 21-19 lead on a Davon Warner three pointer with 8:59 left in the first half.
• Warner's three started a back-and-forth battle as neither team could gain any significant momentum. The two teams were not separated by more than three points over the final ten minutes of the half. There were six five ties and eight lead changes over that period. The Spartans got a Polczynski lay-up with 25 seconds left in the half to take a 40-38 lead to the break. Most of the season, a lead at the half has almost guaranteed a Spartan victory but in their last two games, York has led at the intermission only to fall at the final horn.
• York got off to another good start in the second half as they opened the stanza on a 10-3 run to take a 50-41 lead. The Falcons answered with an impressive 13-2 spurt to take a 54-52 lead with 12:45 remaining in the game. Much like the first half, the teams spent the next nine minutes going back and forth. The Spartans forged a 72-68 lead on a pair of Jared Wagner free throws with 3:13 left in the game.
• Unfortunately for York, the Falcons outscored them 8-1 over the final three minutes as the Spartans wouldn't find the offense they needed late in the game. Warner tied the game at 72 on a layup at the 2:33 mark. The Spartans got their final point on a Giuliani free throw with 2:11 left. The Falcons took the lead for good with 52 seconds left as Tyreek Perkins canned a pair of free throws to give Magnus the 74-73 advantage. York turned the ball over on their next possession and Terry Dawkins got an offensive rebound and put back with 29 seconds left to push the lead to three. York missed a layup on the next possession and were forced to foul. Dawkins missed the front end of the 1-and-1 with seven seconds left and the Spartans drove the ball to the front court for a timeout with 2.7 seconds remaining. Spartan head coach Matt Hunter drew up a great play but the shot was just off as the Spartans fell by three.
Spartan Leaders:
David Giuliani: 19 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal
Jared Wagner: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocked shots, 2 steals
Darin Gordon: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot, 3 steals
Falcon Leaders:
Tyreek Perkins: 17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Terry Dawkins: 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals
Davon Warner: 14 points, 1 rebound, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal
Notes:
The meeting was the first ever between the two programs … the home loss was York's first since December 5, 2018 when the Spartans fell to Scranton … York is now 17-2 in their last 19 home games dating back to the start of the 2018-19 campaign … the back-to-back losses are the first since December 5 and December 12, 2018 when York fell to Scranton and Swarthmore back-to-back … York is now 8-2 when leading at the half with the two losses coming in the last two games … York shot just 41.9% from the floor, their third lowest total of the year (37% at Roanoke and 38.9% at Johns Hopkins) … York failed to reach double figures in three pointers made for the first time in four games … York was outrebounded for the third straight game as the Falcons held a 39-35 edge on the glass … the Falcons shot 48.5% from the floor, the second highest mark against the Spartans this year (54.7% at Scranton) … the Spartans' 12 assists are the lowest total since they had 12 at Johns Hopkins and is tied for the second lowest total of the year … York had 12 assists and 19 turnovers and that's the first time they have been negative in assists to turnover ratio since the Scranton game … York's 19 turnovers are their second highest total of the year (20 at Roanoke) … junior David Giuliani pulled in a career-high 12 rebounds to go along with his game-high 19 points … the double-double was the first of Giuliani's career ... Coast Guard defeated Marymount 68-61 in game two of the Classic on Saturday evening.
Up Next
The Spartans conclude the 2020 York College Spartan Classic on Sunday as they host former Capital Athletic Conference foe Marymount University in the fourth game of the weekend. Tip time is set for 4:00 pm. That game will be preceded by Coast Guard against Albertus Magnus at 2:00 pm.