YORK, PA – For the second time in as many days, the Spartan men's basketball team played an overtime game in their own Spartan Basketball Classic. Unlike Friday when they fell to Salisbury, the Spartans earned a rousing 96-94 win over #22 Stockton University on Saturday in York.
The day was headlined by senior Kai Cipalla as the forward not only poured in a career-high 34 points but also crossed the 1,000 career point plateau for his Spartan career.
The Spartans improved to 5-3 with the win while the Osprey fall to 9-2. The loss snaps Stockton's seven-game win streak.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Spartans got off to a good start as they led 11-5 four minutes into the game. The Osprey cut the Spartan lead to one but York answered by pushing their lead to a game-high eight points on a Pat Gilhool three with 10:31 left in the half. Stockton answered quickly, tying the game at 22 with an 8-0 run. Tayvon Gaither had six points on the run that covered a mere 1:44 of play.
• The remainder of the half was back and forth as the final seven minutes of the stanza featured four ties and ten lead changes before the Osprey took a 42-40 lead to the intermission.
• The Osprey hit York with a pair of quick buckets to start the half but the Spartans responded with six straight points on a Chris Miers three and a Kai Cipalla three-point play. That set the tone for the remainder of the second half as the two squads went back-and-forth like a heavyweight title match. Stockton recaptured the lead until Cipalla gave York a 57-56 advantage with 14:23 left in regulation. The Osprey scored 14 of the next 21 points in the game as they led 70-64 with 8:20 left.
• Cipalla led York on a 16-6 run as the Spartans forged an 80-76 lead with just under three minutes remaining. Eriq Campbell split a pair of free throws for Stockton before getting a stop. The Osprey drew to within one on an EJ Matthews-Spratley bucket with just over 30 seconds on the clock. Tate Landis make two huge free throws to give York a three-point lead. The Spartans needed all three points of that lead as Stockton's Logan Mckee drilled a corner three with 9.4 seconds left to tie the game. York wouldn't be able to get a good look at the end as the Spartans headed to overtime for the second straight game.
• York sprinted out to a 90-84 lead two minutes into the overtime. The Spartan lead remained six until Matthews-Spratley drilled two three pointers around a Jackson Mascari field goal as the Spartan lead shrunk to two. Jayden Rowe split a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left before Gaither hit a lay-up with nine ticks left, cutting York's lead to one. Cipalla split a pair of his own free throws to give York a two-point lead. The Osprey got a great look from 15 feet but Gaither's jumper rimmed off as the Spartans hung on for the important win.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
The Spartans shot a blistering 57.1% (36-for-63) from the floor including 11-for-31 (35.5%) from three … the Spartans were a solid 13-for-18 (72.2%) from the free throw line … Stockton shot 43% (34-for-79) from the field while they shot 34.5% (10-for-29) from three … the Osprey shot 76.2% (16-for-21) from the line … Stockton held a slight 40-38 edge on the glass but a sizeable 16-6 margin in offensive rebounds … Stockton attempted 16 more shots than the Spartans … the largest lead for York was eight points while Stockton's biggest margin with six … there were 13 ties and 13 lead changes in the game … York had 21 assists while they had 16 turnovers … Stockton had 12 assists and 10 turnovers … York had a big 48-22 edge in paint points … Stockton had a 15-6 advantage in fast break points … Stockton had a 23-14 margin in points off turnovers and a 16-9 advantage in second chance points … EJ Matthews-Spartley led the Osprey with a career-high 34 points while he also had seven rebounds, five assists and two steals in 42 minutes of play … Eriq Campbell added 19 points for Stockton … Tayvon Gaither and Martin Anguelov each chipped in with 16 points … those four Osprey combined to score 85 of Stockon's 94 points.
 
SPARTAN NOTES
The Spartans are now 2-2 all-time against Stockton as they snapped a two-game losing streak to the Osprey … the last time the two teams squared off was November 17, 2018 when the Osprey recorded a 72-67 win in the opening round of the Stockton Tournament … senior Kai Cipalla became the 25^th player to reach 1,000 career points as a Spartan when he hit a lay up with 4:05 left in the first half to reach the milestone … Cipalla set a new career-high with 34 points in his 43 minutes of play … Cipalla also had a double-double with 12 rebounds in the win … the senior was 14-for-18 from the floor and 6-for-9 from the line … the double-double is Cipalla's second of the year and 11^th of his career … fellow senior Jackson Mascari also had a big game with a season-high 21 points as he was 8-for-13 from the floor including 2-for-6 from three and 3-for-4 from the line … Mascari also had eight rebounds and four assists … Tate Landis was the third Spartan in double figures with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals for York … the Spartans shot 57.1% from the floor, their second highest mark of the year and the fourth time they have shot over 50% in a game … York's 11 made three point field goals is the second highest total of the year and is the fourth time they were in double figures in made triples … the 72.2% accuracy mark from the stripe was York's second best percentage of the year … York's 21 assists were a season high … York blocked another three shots as they have 38 for the year … York is now 1-2 in overtime this year … the Spartans are now 2-1 at home … the win over the nationally ranked Osprey is the Spartans first since last January when York beat #21 Hood and #15 Widener in back-to-back games … York is now 3-3 against nationally ranked squads in the last two years including 3-1 at Wolf Gym.
 
Up Next
The Spartans are now off until January 30 when they host Penn State Harrisburg in a regional contest. Tip time from Charles Wolf Gym is set for 3:00 pm.