BUENA VISTA, VA – The York College men's basketball team concluded a grueling three game road trip to open Capital Athletic Conference play on Saturday in Buena Vista, VA. For the second straight game, the Spartans trailed late into the second half and for the second straight game, the Spartans found a way to prevail as they picked up a 75-68 win at the barn in Southern Virginia. The Spartans trailed by as many as nine points midway through the second half before storming back to capture the win.
Records
York (Pa.): 12-5 (2-1 CAC)
Southern Virginia: 1-17 (0-3 CAC)
Team Stats
Score: York 75, Southern Virginia 68
FG: York 25-for-57 (43.9%), SVU 23-for-53 (43.4%)
3PT FG: York 12-for-29 (41.4%), SVU 5-for-19 (26.3%)
FT: York 13-for-24 (54.2%), SVU 17-for-19 (89.5%)
Rebounds: York 31, SVU 33
Assists: York 18, SVU 9
Turnovers: York 11, SVU 15
Blocked Shots: York 5, SVU 5
Steals: York 7, SVU 6
How It Happened:
• Much like they have in their previous two CAC contests, the Spartans raced out to a big lead as they opened the game on an 11-4 run. Just like the other two games, their opponent battled their way back into the game. This time, Southern Virginia came back and took a 17-16 lead on a Jamier Cross layup with 8:12 left in the first half.
• The two squads went back and forth over the final eight minutes of the half as there were a total of four ties and three lead changes. The Knights pushed their lead to four twice before the Spartans tied the game at 33 on a Zach Novick three-pointer with 1:05 remaining in the stanza. Cross hit a layup with 33 seconds to give the Knights a 35-33 lead at the break. It's the third straight game in which the Spartans have trailed at the half.
• The teams opened the half by trading three points as Sam Armstrong nailed a three for SVU while Jared Wagner hit two free throws followed by one free throw from Joe Polczynski. The Knights then hit York with an 8-1 run to take a 46-37 lead with 16:24 left in the game. The Knights maintained their lead between six and nine points over the next four minutes. Novick hit another three to trim the deficit to four. The Knights responded pushing the lead back to nine at 59-50 with 9:18 left on the clock.
• The Spartans answered in a manner you would expect from a team with four senior leaders as the Green and White fashioned a 10-0 run that covered two minutes. That turned the nine point Spartan deficit into a one-point lead. The run was capped by Novick's fourth three of the afternoon.
• The game would be back-and-forth over the next five minutes. The Knights took their final lead of the game on a Trey Dill jumper with 2:50 remaining. The Spartans answered with a David Giuliani bucket followed by another huge three from freshman Logan Collins as York pushed out to a 70-67 lead with 1:10 left in the game. Uncharacteristically, the Spartans struggled from the free throw line in the final minute of the game but their defense held Southern Virginia to just two points over the final 1:22 of play to earn York's 12th win of the year.
Spartan Leaders:
Joe Polczynski: 18 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 4-for-7 3PT FG
Jared Wagner: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals
David Giuliani: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal
Zach Novick: 12 points, 1 rebound, 4-for-8 3PT FG
Knights Leaders:
Jamier Cross: 21 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 9-for-16 FG
Sam Armstrong: 17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist
Trey Dill: 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, 1 assist
Notes:
The Spartans improve to 10-3 all-time against Southern Virginia as the Green and White has won eight straight in the series … the trip to Knight Sports Arena will be the final regular season trip for the Green and White as the Spartans head to the MAC next fall … York was held below 45% shooting from the floor in their third straight game and their fourth in the last five … the Spartans struggled at the line, converting just 54% from the stripe including 12-of-22 in the second half … York attempted just two free throws in the opening 20 minutes of play … Southern Virginia was 10-for-10 from the line in the second half … York drilled 12 three pointers, their highest total since the December 29 game against #6 Marietta … York has reached double figures in three-pointers made in 10 of their 17 games this year … senior Jared Wagner is now tied for 15th place on the all-time scoring list with his 1,274 points … Wagner is tied with former sniper John Ely … Wagner continues to push his career totals as he now has 263 steals (first), 394 free throws made (second), 477 assists (second) and 2,999 minutes played (tenth) … senior Joe Polczynski tied his season-high with 18 points (12/1/19 vs. Franklin & Marshall) … Polczynski's four three-pointers tied his season high (12/29/19 vs. Marietta) … his nine rebounds tied a career-high set in the win over Diplomats on December 1 … Polczynski also tied his season-high in minutes played with 32 … senior Zach Novick reached double figures for the fourth time this year and the first time since November 26 when he notched 12 points at Gwynedd-Mercy.
Up Next
The Spartans finally return to Charles Wolf Gymnasium to kick off a season-high four-game homestand. The home action starts on Tuesday night as the Spartans play their final non-conference contest of the year as the welcome the Wilson College Phoenix to Wolf Gym. Tip time is set for 7:00 pm.