YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team was held to their lowest offensive output of the year as they fell to the Stevenson University Mustangs 53-45 in a MAC Commonwealth contest at Charles Wolf Gymnasium.
The Spartans shot a season-low 26.9% from the floor combined with 19 turnovers resulted in York's fifth league loss of the year. York is now 7-8 overall and 1-5 in the conference. Stevenson improves to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in the league.
How It Happened
•The Spartans could not have gotten off to a colder start from the field as they began 0-for-8 from the field with just a pair of free throws as they trailed 11-2 six minutes into the game. The Spartans made wholesale substitutions and the bench bunch came on to give the Spartan offense a kickstart. Freshman Tate Landis made a lay-up at the 11:35 mark for York's first field goal as they trailed 11-4. That bucket started a prolonged 11-6 run as the Spartans trimmed their deficit to 17-15. Both teams scored five points over the final 7:24 of the half as the offenses continued to struggle with Stevenson taking a 22-20 lead to the break.
• The Spartans took an early 27-26 lead to start the second half but the Mustangs put together a game-changing 15-4 lead over the next 5:30 of game time to take a 41-31 lead. Jayden Rowe hit a deep three at the 9:55 mark as York cut their deficit to seven.
• The Stevenson lead bounced between seven and ten points before Rowe shaved the lead to 46-40 with another three with 4:16 remaining in the game. York eventually cut it to five on a Chris Miers triple with 2:20 left. After a pair of KJ Holton free throws, Kai Cipalla hit two of his own as the Mustangs led 50-45 with 1:04 left. The Mustangs would go 3-of-4 from the line in the final minute as the Spartans would come up empty offensively and Stevenson would earn the eight-point win.
By the Numbers
The Spartans finished the game shooting a season-worse 26.9% (14-for-52) while they went 8-for-34 (23.5%) from three … the Spartans were 9-for-11 from the stripe … Stevenson wasn't much better from the floor as they were 17-for-48 (34.7%) while they were 4-for-17 (23.5%) from three … the Mustangs held a decided advantage in free throw attempts as they were 15-for-22 (68.2%) from the line … the Spartans held a 39-35 edge on the glass as York also enjoyed an 11-4 margin in second chance points … York had 19 turnovers, their second-highest total of the year (23 vs. PSU Altoona) … those 19 turnovers led to 16 Mustang points … York had just nine assists, their lowest total of the year … York was whistled for a season-high 23 fouls … the Spartans 45 points was their lowest total of the year by 13 points (58 vs. Alvernia) … McKale Williams led the Mustangs with 15 points while Ethan Jones was the other Mustang in double figures with 10 points … Nate Arrington led all rebounders with 11.
Spartan Notes
York has now lost two straight in the series but still lead the Mustangs 16-6 in the all-time series … York falls to 1-4 at home as they have lost two straight at Wolf Gym … Jayden Rowe led the way for York as he was the Spartans' lone double-figure scorer at 12 points while he also had three rebounds and two steals … the Spartan bench scored 16 points led by Tate Landis with seven points while Pat Gilhool added six points.
Up Next
The Spartans conclude their three-game home stand on Saturday as they host Widener University in a MAC Commonwealth contest. Tip time at Wolf Gym is set for 3:00 pm.