YORK, PA – The York College Spartan men's basketball team saw their five-game win streak end with a 75-72 overtime loss to #7 Christopher Newport University in a non-conference game at Wolf Gymnasium on Saturday.
The game featured a battle of former Capital Athletic Conference foes who last saw each other on Saturday, February 29, 2020 when York upended the Captains 79-77 in the last CAC Championship game.
The Captains, who are ranked seventh in the country, improve to 15-2 overall while the Spartans fall to 7-7.
How It Happened
• The Captains raced out to a quick start as they led 11-6 just over three minutes into the game. The Spartans came back with an 11-2 run to take a 17-13 lead with 12:07 left in the half. The Captains fashioned a lengthy 16-1 run that left CNU with a 29-18 lead. The run covered over eight minutes of play as it looked like the Captains would blow the Spartans out in their own building. York answered by trimming the Captain lead to five twice, the second time on a Kai Cipalla lay-up with 1:22 left in the half.
• The Captains scored on their next possession and then York came up empty on three shots in their ensuing possession. CNU's Ty Henderson then converted a three pointer from the top of the key as the Captain lead quickly became ten points (38-28) heading to the break. CNU shot a blistering 53.1% from the floor in the first half while York shot just 40.7% from the field.
• The Captains pushed their lead to a game-high 12 points with a Jahn Hines bucket to open the second half. The CNU lead bounced between eight and 11 points before the Spartans went on a 16-6 run, cutting the Captain lead to 55-54 with 10:10 left in regulation. CNU built the lead back to seven at 63-56 but York battled back to tie the game at 65 on a Jayden Rowe driving lay-up with 1:34 left in the second half. The Spartans got a stop on CNU's next possession and the Spartans' Jackson Mascari drilled a three with 44 seconds left, putting York up 68-65. The Captains answered right back as Ty Henderson cashed out a corner three, tying the game at 68 with 32 seconds left. The Spartans had chance to win on the final possession of regulation by Rowe's off balance three as the horn was going off couldn't find the mark, sending the teams to overtime.
• Henderson struck again to give CNU the early lead in overtime with another three 11 seconds into the extra period. Both teams struggled to score in the extra session as the Spartans didn't score until there was just 2:21 left with Cipalla finishing in the paint as York trailed 71-70. Matthew Brodie hit what would eventually be the game winner with his three at the 1:55 mark to give CNU a 74-70 lead. Rowe hit his final bucket of the game with 47 seconds left to bring York to within a pair but a tremendous defensive play by Rodney Graves on a Spartan fast break attempt forced York to foul with 26 seconds left. Trey Barber split a pair to put CNU up three but the Spartans would be unable to get a clean look from three as the clock ran out, allowing the Captains to escape the Spartan upset bid.
By the Numbers
York shot 47.5% for the game but were great in the second half at 60% (15-for-25) while they were just 2-for-7 (28.6%) in the overtime period … both teams struggled from the stripe as York was just 8-for-15 (53.3%) while CNU was just 7-for-13 (53.8%) … the Captains shot 53.1% (17-for-32) in the first half … York was 8-for-24 (33.3%) from three … York has made at least eight threes in their last six games … the Captains held a 43-35 advantage on the glass and that's the first time in six games the Spartans have lost the battle on the boards … there were just a combined nine steals in the game, the lowest total since the Alvernia game when there were just seven combined steals … CNU turned the 12 Spartan turnovers into 17 points … both teams pounded the ball inside during the game as CNU had a 42-36 advantage in paint points … Four of York's seven losses have come by five points or less … the Captains had three players in double figures led by Matthew Brodie's 19 points … Jahn Hines added 16 points while Ty Henderson chipped in with 14.
Spartan Notes
The loss snaps York's two-game win streak against the Captains as CNU now leads the all-time series 14-6 … the Captain win snaps a three-game losing streak in Charles Wolf Gymnasium … York will play four of their next five games at Wolf Gymnasium … freshman Jayden Rowe tied his career-high with 26 points while he also had five assists, three rebounds and a steal … Kai Cipalla and Jackson Mascari added 16 points each to the Spartan attack … Mascari also had a game-high 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year … Mascari is now second in the MAC Commonwealth in rebounding at 8.8 rebounds per game … Chris Miers added nine points, six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot … York is now 1-3 at home but their three losses have come by an average of just five points.
Up Next
The Spartans play the middle game of a three-game homestand on Wednesday as they host Stevenson University in a MAC Commonwealth contest. Tip time at Wolf Gymnasium is set for 6:00 pm.