YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team dropped a 77-75 overtime loss to long time Capital Athletic Conference rival Salisbury on Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the Spartan Basketball Classic.
The Sea Gulls went to the line 47 times in the game. They made enough of those chances to make the Spartans pay the price, converting 29 of the 47 opportunities including an 11-for-16 performance in the five-minute extra period.
The Sea Gulls improve to 10-3 overall while the Spartans had their three-game win streak snapped as they fall to 4-3.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Spartans got off to a good start early as they raced out to a 7-1 lead 3:20 into the game. The Sea Gulls settled in, tying the game at 13 on an Aidan Camper triple with 10:50 left in the half. York recaptured the lead on a Kai Cipalla triple late in the shot clock. That three started a quick 7-2 spurt that gave York a 20-15 lead. The Sea Gulls responded with two quick buckets but the Spartans maintained the lead to the half punctuated by a Jayden Rowe driving lay-up with seven seconds left to give York a 29-26 lead heading to the break.  
• After Tate Landis opened the half with a three pointer at the top of the key to push the lead to six, the Sea Gulls ripped off an 8-0 run to take a 34-32 lead just over two and a half minutes into the stanza. The Spartans tied the game at 38 on a Pat Gilhool bucket but the Sea Gulls answered with a 13-2 run to take a 51-40 lead with 10:17 remaining in the game. The Spartans were ice cold from the field as their lone points on the Salisbury run came from a pair of Jackson Mascari free throws.
• With the Spartans trailing by ten, the Green and White fashioned a 10-1 run to trim their deficit to two at 52-50 with 7:38 left in the game. The Sea Gulls got a pair of Kedrick Frink lay ups to push the lead back to six. York put together a 9-4 run, cutting the Sea Gull lead to 60-59 with 1:37 left in the game. The Gulls got a traditional three-point play from Tyler Ball, pushing the lead to four with under a minute left in regulation. Landis answered with a huge three from the corner as he was fouled on the play. Landis missed the free throw and the Spartans quickly fouled putting Brendan Davis at the line. Davis split the pair as York gained possession down two with 21.8 left.
• After a Spartan timeout, York got the ball into the big fella as Cipalla finished off a tough lay-up with 4.8 seconds left.  The Gulls wouldn't be able to get off a good chance as the teams headed to overtime.
• The Spartans scored four of the first six points of the overtime to take an early lead. From there, the Sea Gulls feasted at the free throw line, scoring six straight points at the stripe over four possessions to push out to a 72-68 lead with 1:18 remaining in the overtime. Cipalla hit a jumper with 1:06 left to cut the lead to two but the Gulls made three more free throws, pushing the lead to 75-70 with 53 ticks left. Nick Schroeder hit a pair of free throws followed by a Chris Miers steal to give York possession. York's initial three was long but Cipalla came up with the huge rebound and put back, cutting York's deficit to one.  
• York was forced to foul and Frink nailed a pair with 9.4 seconds left to put the Gulls up 77-74. The Spartans drew up a great out of bounds play for an open look but the shot was just short, essentially closing out the game. The Spartans got a free throw late to determine the final two-point deficit.
• Salisbury was 1-for-1 from the floor in the overtime while they were 11-of-16 (68.6%) from the stripe in the five-minute period.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
The Spartans finished the game shooting 40.4% from the floor, 22.2% (6-for-27) from three and 67.6% (23-for-34) from the stripe … the Sea Gulls shot 43.4% from the floor, 25% (2-for-8) from three and where 29-for-47 (61.7%) from the free throw line … the Sea Gulls held a 42- 38 margin on the glass including a 10-8 edge in offensive rebounds … Salisbury had a 34-22 margin in paint points … there were eight ties in the game and only two lead changes … both teams took good care of the ball as Salisbury had 12 turnovers and York only had nine … Kedrick Frink led the way for Salisbury with 21 points and seven rebounds as he was 13-for-21 from the line … Jordan Oates notched another double-double for the Gulls as he tallied 17 points and pulled in 17 rebounds … Reed Rebstock added 11 points including 9-for-9 from the line while Brendan Davis was the fourth Gull in double figures with 10 points.
 
SPARTAN NOTES
The game between the Spartans and Sea Gulls is the first meeting since February 5, 2020 when York recorded a 85-78 win at Salisbury in their final meeting as Capital Athletic Conference foes … the series is now 39-39 all-time as the loss snaps a five-game winning streak for the Green and White … two of York's three losses have come by two points in overtime … the Spartans six made three pointers is their second lowest total of the year … York made a season-high 23 free throws and also took a season high 34 … York had just nine turnovers, their second-lowest total of the year … York blocked nine shots, their second highest total of the year … the 47 free throws allowed with the highest total in the 201 games since Farmingdale State shot 55 against the Spartans at the Wyndham Reading Holiday Tournament at Albright on December 30, 2013 … York falls to 3-2 all-time against Salisbury in overtime … senior Kai Cipalla led the way for York with 25 points including eight in overtime … Cipalla was 8-for-15 from the floor and 8-for-11 from the line … he also had seven rebounds and two blocked shots in his 40 minutes of action … he is five points away from becoming York's 25^th 1,000 point scorer … Jackson Mascari and Jayden Rowe each added 14 points for the Spartan offense … Mascari also had eight rebounds, one assist and a blocked shot before being one of two Spartans to foul out … Rowe added three rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots for York … Tate Landis  was the other Spartan in double figures with 11 points, eight rebounds, and one steal in his 37 minutes of play … the eight rebounds for Landis ties a career high … York had two foul-outs in the game, their first two disqualifications for the year.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans return to action on Saturday afternoon as they face off against Stockton University in game four of the Spartan Men's Basketball Classic. Tip time is set for 4:00 pm at Charles Wolf Gym. The game will be preceded by game three of the tournament featuring Marywood and Salisbury. That game will begin at 2:00 pm.