YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team closed out their 2019-20 regular season with their tenth straight win a they downed St. Mary's College 68-62 in the Spartans' last ever regular season Capital Athletic Conference game. on Wednesday night in York The win also enabled the Spartans to capture their third straight CAC regular season title. It's the third straight regular season crown they have shared with Christopher Newport and just like the other two years, York lost the conference coin toss and will be the tournament's two seed.
Records
York (Pa.): 20-5, 9-1 CAC
St. Mary's (Md.): 8-17, 3-7 CAC
Team Stats
Score: York 68, SMC 62
FG: York 22-for-66 (33.3%), SMC 26-for-75 (34.7%)
3PT FG: York 7-for-38 (18.4%), SMC 3-for-21 (14.3%)
FT: York 17-for-23 (73.9%), SMC 7-for-10 (70%)
Rebounds: York 46, SMC 55
Assists: York 9, SMC 8
Turnovers: York 10, SMC 13
Blocked Shots: York 4, SMC 3
Steals: York 7, SMC 5
How It Happened:
• The first half was back and forth as neither team was very good offensively. The first half featured four ties and five lead changes as the game was back and forth in the opening 20 minutes. York's biggest lead in the first half was three points muliptle times while the Seahawks owned a five-point lead late in the half on a Dee Barnes three. The Spartans scored five of the final seven points of the half as St. Mary's took a 36-34 lead to the break.
• The Spartans were ice cold from the field in the first half as they shot just 25% (8-for-32) from the floor including 5-for-21 (23.8%) from three. The Spartans were good at the line, making 13-of-16 (81.3%), keeping themselves in the game.
• St. Mary's came out of the break and pushed their lead to seven on a Barnes layup. The Spartans began their comeback in a familiar fashion as Jared Wagner converted a three-point play, the old-fashioned way to start York on a 12-2 run that gave York a 48-45 lead with 13:01 left in the game.
• The Spartans would hold keep the lead the remainder of the game but the contest wasn't even close to being decided until the end. York's lead bounced between one and four points over the next 11 minutes until David Giuliani hit a jumper in the paint with 54 seconds left in the game to put York up 65-59. The Spartans got a stop on the next St. Mary's possession and Wagner was fouled with 27 seconds left. He split the two free throws to put York up seven. The Seahawks got a Miles Gillette three pointer with 14 seconds left and St. Mary's fouled. The Spartans missed the ensuing free throw but Darin Gordon stripped Gillette clean at midcourt and cruised in for a two-handed jam, finishing off the victory.
• Giuliani was brilliant in the second half as the forward scored 14 of his 18 points in the half. He also pulled in five rebounds as York outscored St. Mary's 34-26 to earn the win.
Spartan Leaders:
Jared Wagner: 21 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 8-for-12 FT
David Giuliani: 18 points, 11 rebounds, 1 blocked shot
Darin Gordon: 10 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal
Seahawks Leaders:
Miles Gillette: 33 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocked shots, 1 steal
Dee Barnes: 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Trylilian Young: 6 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists
Notes:
The Spartans are now 46-25 all-time against the Seahawks as York has won nine straight in the series … the meeting was the final regular season matchup between the two teams as the Spartans head to the MAC in July … the ten-game win streak matches their ten game win streak from last year that ran from January 23 through February 21, 2019 … the Spartans are now 22-6 in February over the last four years including 5-0 this year and 12-1 in the last two years … the 20 wins marks the sixth time the men's basketball program has won at least 20 wins in a season and is the third straight year the Spartans have reached at least 20 wins … the Spartan senior class earned their 83rd career win, four short of the school record of 87 … the Spartans' 33.3% shooting from the floor was their lowest mark of the year and is just the second time they have won when shooting under 40% in a game this year … York recorded their second lowest three point shooting percentage of the year at 18.4% (7-for-38) … senior Jared Wagner moved into the top ten in scoring on the Spartan career chart as he now has 1,436 points … Wagner picked up his team-leading eighth double-double of the year … Wagner eclipsed 20 points for the 11th time this year and for the third straight game … Wagner is averaging 27.3 points per game over his last three games … senior Darin Gordon reached double figures for the tenth time this year including six times in his last seven games … junior David Giuliani earned his sixth double-double of the year with his 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Up Next
The Spartans open the Capital Athletic Conference tournament as the two seed on Wednesday, February 26. The Spartans will host the winner of the Mary Washington/Southern Virginia quarterfinal game at Wolf Gymnasium. Tip time is set for 7:00 pm. The Eagles/Knights quarterfinal will be contested on Saturday in Fredericksburg, VA.