YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team earned their third straight trip to the Capital Athletic Conference championship game thanks to their 74-60 win over Mary Washington on Wednesday. For the third straight year, the Spartans will head to Christopher Newport to face the Captains in the conference championship game. The two teams have tied for the conference regular season championship in each of the last three years and in each of the last three years, the Captains were awarded the top seed via the tiebreaker.
The Spartans will head into the CAC Championship game riding a season-high 11 game win streak.
Records
York (Pa.): 21-5
Mary Washington: 16-11
Team Stats
Score: York 74, Mary Washington
FG: York 25-for-58 (43.1%), UMW 20-for-52 (38.5%)
3PT FG: York 11-for-33 (33.3%), UMW 4-for-18 (22.2%)
FT: York 13-for-18 (72.2%), UMW 16-for-17 (94.1%)
Rebounds: York 38, UMW 31
Assists: York 15, UMW 4
Turnovers: York 16, UMW 15
Blocked Shots: York 4, UMW 3
Steals: York 10, UMW 10
How It Happened:
• The first half was a back and forth affair. There were five ties and 12 lead changes in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Eagles led by four points early while York's biggest first half advantage was three. The Eagles held a three-point lead with 1.6 seconds left in the half. The Spartans ran a baseline out of bounds play and Jared Wagner found Darin Gordon for a three that Gordon drilled at the horn as the teams headed to the break tied at 30.
• Mary Washington scored four of the first seven points of the half to take a 33-32 lead. The Spartans then put together a 15-2 run that gave the Spartans a 48-36 lead with 12:22 left in the game. The run gave the Spartans the breathing room they needed as York's defense stifled the potent Eagle offense.
• Mary Washington cut the York lead to eight but York answered with a Gordon three from the corner followed by a David Giuliani layup to quickly push the lead back to 13. Mary Washington cut the lead to 12 one last time but the Spartans responded with an 11-1 run to push the lead to a game-high 21 points with just over two minutes left in regulation. The run was capped by a breakaway dunk from Gordon. The Eagles were content to let the Spartans salt the game away as York settled for a 14-point semifinal victory.
Spartan Leaders:
David Giuliani: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 1 blocked shot
Darin Gordon: 15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Jared Wagner: 11 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 blocked shot, 6 steals
Joe Polczynski: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Eagle Leaders:
Anias Saunders: 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Trey Barber: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, 1 steal
Riley Welch: 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Drew Johnson: 6 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Notes:
The Spartans have won five straight against the Eagles as they improve to 43-35 all-time against UMW … York is now 26-22 all-time in the CAC Tournament … York is now 6-2 all-time in the CAC Tournament against the Eagles … York advances to their eighth CAC Championship game … York is now 8-9 all-time in the semifinals … York is now 3-1 against Mary Washington in the semifinals … York outscored UMW 44-30 in the second half as the Spartans shot 56% (14-for-25) from the floor while the Eagles were limited to 33.3% (7-for-21) in the second half … The Eagles went 14-for-15 from the stripe in the second half … York improves to 12-1 at Wolf Gymnasium … York is 2-0 when they are tied at the half … the Spartans are now 17-2 when their opponent shoots below 45% in a game … York is now 14-0 when outrebounding their opponent … the Spartans are now 20-3 when getting at least three players in double figures … Mary Washington made just four three pointers, their third lowest total of the year (2 vs. Virginia Wesleyan and 3 at Whitworth) … the four threes snapped a streak of five straight games of double digit threes … the four threes come one game after they drilled 23 of 45 in the 107-68 romp over Southern Virginia … the Spartans held the Eagles to 38.5% shooting from the floor and UMW is the second straight Spartan opponent to be held under 40% and the fifth opponent this year that failed to go over 40% from the floor … the Spartans outrebounded Mary Washington in all three of their games for the year … the 60 points for Mary Washington ties for their season low on offense (60 vs. Virginia Wesleyan on December 4) … senior Darin Gordon led the Spartans with his 15 points as he reached double figures for the 11th time this year including in six of his last seven games … first team All-CAC forward David Giuliani tied Gordon for the team-high in scoring … Giuliani reached double figures for the fourth straight game and the 22nd time this year.
Up Next
The Spartans head to Newport News, Virginia on Saturday to face the Captains in the CAC Championship game. Tip time at the Freeman Center is set for 2:00 pm.