YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team remained unbeaten in the MAC Commonwealth as they registered a 78-57 home win over Messiah on Saturday afternoon in York.
The Spartans used a 27-2 run midway through the second half to turn a close game into a lopsided one.
York improves to 11-4 overall and 4-0 in the league while the Falcons fall to 1-14 overall and 0-4 in the conference.
 
How It Happened
• The Falcons got off to a good start as they led 9-6 four minutes into the game. The Spartans ripped off eight straight points to take a 14-9 lead with 13:17 left in the first. This would be a theme over the remainder of the first half. York would push the lead only to have the Falcons reel the Green and White back in.
• Messiah answered York's run with an 11-4 spurt of their own to take a 20-18 lead. The Spartans responded with a 10-2 run started by an Anthony Sciote triple as the Spartans led 28-22. York went cold from the field as the Falcons finished the half with a 7-2 run to slice the Spartan lead to one (30-29) at the intermission.
• The back-and-forth nature of the game continued early in the second half. The Falcons had a quick 7-0 run to take a 40-39 lead with 16:18 left in the game. The Spartans then fashioned a game-changing 27-2 run, including 21 straight points, to turn a one-point deficit into 66-42 lead with 7:55 left. Kai Cipalla put the Spartans on his back during the run as he had 15 pints during the run while Jackson Mascari added five. York was 10-for-17 from the floor, 3-for-6 from three and 4-for-4 from the line during the run. The Spartan defense handcuffed the Falcons as Messiah was 1-for-9 from the floor with five turnovers.
• York had one more quick run in them as they scored five straight to push the lead to a game-high 27 (71-44) with 6:50 remaining. The Falcons tallied eight of the next nine points, trimming the York lead to 20 but the Spartans eventually closed out the game and the 21-point victory.
 
By The Numbers
The Spartans finished the game shooting 43.5% (27-for-62) from the floor including 11-for-28 (39.3%) from three and 13-for-19 (68.4%) from the line … The Falcons shot 39.1% (18-for-46) from the field while they were 5-for-15 (33.3%) from three … the Falcons were 16-for-22 (72.7%) from the free throw line … York won the battle of the glass 37-31 including 12-6 in offensive rebounds … York had a 17-8 edge in assists while the Green and White did a good job of taking care of the ball with just seven turnovers … York turned Messiah's 17 turnovers into 22 points … the Spartan bench outscored their Falcon counterparts 23-3 … York outscored Messiah 48-28 in the second half … Caleb Lyles led the way for Messiah as he tallied 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in 35 minutes of play … Lyles was 12-for-13 from the free throw line … Ben Wert added 13 points five rebounds and a blocked shot … Johnny McBride was the third Falcon in double figures with 10 points.
 
Spartan Notes
York has now won four straight against the Falcons as they lead the all-time series 15-11 … the Spartans have won their four conference games by an average margin of 16 points per game … the Spartans made another 11 three point field goals as they have reached double figures in threes in four straight contests and ten times overall … York is shooting 40.3% (50-for-124) from distance in their four MAC Commonwealth games .… the Spartans have done a great job of taking care of the basketball during conference play as they have only had 36 miscues in the four games … York has also done a good job of sharing the ball as they have recorded 72 assists (18 per game) during conference action … York has recorded an assist on 72 of their 110 made field goals (65.5%) during league play … senior forward Kai Cipalla led the Green and White with 20 points with 18 of those tallies coming in the second half … Cipalla added three rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in a season-low 21 minutes of work … Jackson Mascari was the other Spartan in double figures with 16 points, six rebounds, and a steal in 24 minutes … Mascari was 5-for-11 from the floor including 4-for-6 from three and 2-for-2 from the line … Chris Miers added seven points, two rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal … junior Aleks Smith set a pair of career highs with six points and five rebounds in his 17 minutes of play … Smith was 3-for-5 from the floor … freshman guard Anthony Sciote notched a career-high six points on a pair of three pointers.
 
Up Next
The Spartans remain at home on Wednesday as they host Albright in a MAC Commonwealth contest. Tip time at Wolf Gymnasium is set for 7:00 pm.