FREDERICSKBURG, VA – The York College men's basketball team erased a 17-point second half deficit to post a 74-71 Capital Athletic Conference win at the University of Mary Washington on Saturday. The Spartans remained tied for first place with the Christopher Newport Captains as the Spartan win streak grew to nine with the victory.
Records
York (Pa.): 19-5, 8-1 CAC
Mary Washington: 14-10, 4-5 CAC
Team Stats
Score: York 74, Mary Washington 71
FG: York 24-for-60 (40.0%), UMW 24-for-59 (40.7%)
3PT FG: York 11-for-36 (30.6%), UMW 12-for-26 (46.2%)
FT: York 15-for-19 (78.9%), UMW 11-for-16 (68.8%)
Rebounds: York 41, UMW 36
Assists: York 10, UMW 14
Turnovers: York 14, UMW 14
Blocked Shots: York 3, UMW 6
Steals: York 7, UMW 8
How It Happened:
• The Spartans opened the scoring in the game but the Eagles quickly responded with 13 straight points to take control of the game early. York cut the lead to four on back-to-back threes from senior Zach Novick. The Eagle lead bounced between four and ten points over the next eight minutes of the game.
• York pulled to within four for the third time in the half when Joe Polczynski hit a three with 6:44 left in the half, making the score 27-23 UMW. The Eagles then ended the half on an 11-2 run as they took a 38-28 lead to the intermission. Mary Washington limited the Spartans to just 32.3% shooting from the floor including 5-for-22 from three in the opening 20 minutes of play.
• The Spartans trimmed the Eagle led to six on a David Giuliani bucket at the 15:43 mark of the second half. The Eagles responded with a 12-1 run that gave Mary Washington a 17-point bulge with just over 12 minutes left in regulation as York looked like the familiar struggles in Fredericksburg had reared their ugly head.
• York began their comeback with a 13-0 spurt keyed by Jared Wagner as the senior guard had five points on the run. The Eagles responded to the York run and pushed the lead back to nine at 68-59 with 5:19 left in the game. York answered in emphatic fashion as the Green and White scored the next 14 points of the game to take a 73-68 lead. The Spartans held the high flying Eagles scoreless for almost five minutes, allowing Wagner to score 11 points while Polczynski added a three. Da'Shawn Cook ended the scoreless streak with a three to cut the Spartan lead to two with 17 seconds left. Freshman Logan Collins split a pair of free throws with eight seconds left but the Eagles wouldn't get a shot off as the Spartans escaped with the improbable come-from-behind win.
Spartan Leaders:
Jared Wagner: 23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals
David Giuliani: 12 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot
Joe Polczynski: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal
Zach Novick: 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3-for-8 3PT FG
Eagle Leaders:
Da'Shawn Cook: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 6-for-10 3PT FG
Greg Rowson: 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
Drew Johnson: 12 points, 6 rebounds
Trey Barber: 7 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocked shots
Notes:
The Spartans snapped a seven-game losing streak at Anderson Arena … it was the first win since February 25, 2012 when the Spartans beat the Eagles 59-51 for the Capital Athletic Conference championship in Jeff Gamber's next to last game on the Spartan bench … the Spartans are now 42-35 all-time against UMW … the Spartans have now won four straight in the series against UMW … York's nine game winning streak is their longest since the end of last year when they won ten straight from January 23 through February 21, 2019 … York has shot just 40% in their two games against the Eagles but have two wins … the Eagles have gone 25-for-57 (43.8%) from three in two games against the Spartans this year … York has fired up 67 threes in their two games against UMW, making 23 … York won the battle on the glass for the 13th time this year and they have won all 13 of those games … the win is the eighth that York has earned by single digits … the Spartans outscored the Eagles 46-33 in the second half … the Spartan bench outscored their counterparts 20-9 for the game … York had a 12-0 advantage in second chance points … the Spartans had a lead in the for just 4:12 of the 40 minutes played … Senior Jared Wagner scored 18 of his game-high 21 points of the second … 11 of Wagner's 18 second half points came in the final five minutes of the game … Wagner now has 1,415 career points as he passed former Spartan standout Steve Schmehl (1,410 points) on the all-time scoring list … Wagner is now 24 free throws away from breaking Chad McGowan's school record of 459 made free throws … Wagner moved into 14th place all-time in rebounding with his seven caroms in the win … senior Zach Novick came off the bench and had three big threes for the Spartans in the win.
Up Next
The Spartans conclude their 2019-20 regular season on Wednesday evening as they welcome St. Mary's College to Wolf Gymnasium. Tip time for the Spartans' last-ever regular season Capital Athletic Conference game is set for 7:00 pm.