CHESTER, PA – The York College men's basketball team remained tied for first in the MAC Commonwealth with a 71-65 road win at Widener on Wednesday night in league play.
The Spartans, who were coming off their only league loss on Saturday, bounced back with another gritty road win as they improve to 5-3 away from Wolf Gymnasium.
The Spartans are now 13-5 overall and 6-1 in the Commonwealth. The Pride fall to a deceiving 5-13 and are now 3-4 in the league.
 
How It Happened
• The game was back and forth early as the contest was knotted at ten at the 13:50 mark. The Pride would push out to an 18-15 advantage on a Jacob Aryea lay up. The Spartans responded with an 18-5 run started by back-to-back threes from Jayden Rowe as the Spartans led 33-23 with 4:05 remaining in the half. Rowe keyed the run with eight points as the Spartans were 6-for-8 from the floor during the spurt including three triples and a trio of free throws.
• The Spartans pushed the lead to a game-high 12 points on a Kai Cipalla free throw with 55 seconds left in the half. The Pride closed out the first half scoring with an Aryee bucket as York took a 38-28 lead to the break.
• York scored first in the second half to tie their game-high lead at 40-28 but the Pride ripped off an 11-2 run to draw to within three at 42-39. York pushed the lead back to eight with 12:02 left. Widener scored seven straight points as the Spartan lead shrunk to 51-50. Cipalla hit back-to-back field goals to push the lead back to five with 7:06 remaining. Widener trimmed the lead back to two at 58-56 before the Spartans scored seven straight to take a 65-56 lead.
• Credit to Widener as they kept coming at the Spartans. The Pride scored nine of the next 12 points, slicing the Spartan lead to just three with 46 seconds left. The Spartans got a huge three-point play from Chris Miers with 19 seconds left to secure the win. Miers bucket came just before the shot clock expired as the Spartans were nursing a three-point advantage. York closed out the game and earned the key road victory.
 
By The Numbers
The Spartans finished the game shooting 50% (24-for-48) from the field including 28% (7-for-25) from three … the Spartans were 16-for-23 (69.6%) from the stripe … Widener shot 41.7% (25-for-60) from the floor including 47.1% (8-for-17) from three and 7-for-13 (53.8%) from free throw line … York won the battle on the glass 34-30 while Widener had a 12-7 margin in offensive rebounds … Widener had 20 assists to 13 for the Spartans … York committed 15 turnovers which led to 12 Widener points … Widener had seven turnovers which led to just six points for York … both teams had 34 paint points … York led for 80.6% (32:15) of the game … Kevin Schenk led the way for Widener as he had 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot in 32 minutes of work … Jacob Aryee came off the bench to add 12 points for Widener … Myles Bright had 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal for the Pride.
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans improve to 4-8 all-time against the Pride as they have now won three of the last four in the series … the Spartans are now 3-1 in MAC Commonwealth road games … the Spartans have shot 50% in each of their last two games and have shot 50% or better in six games this season … York shot just 28% from three in the game, their lowest mark since the January 4 loss to Hamilton (15.8%, 3-for-19) … York won the battle on the glass for the fifth straight game … York's 15 turnovers were the most since they had 15 against Hamilton … York had eight blocked shots, their second highest total of the year (9 vs. Hobart) … York has now blocked five shots or more in six games … York had a season-low three steals … the game was the annual NABC Suites and Sneakers game when coaches wear sneakers with their suites in support of the American Cancer Society … the Spartans have participated in the event in each year during head coach Matt Hunter's tenure … senior Kai Cipalla led the way for York with 24 points while he also had nine rebounds, and three assists … Cipalla was 9-for-15 from the floor and 6-for-9 from the free throw line … Jackson Mascari had 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in his 33 minutes of action … Jayden Rowe had 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and a career-high six blocked shots … Tate Landis was the fourth Spartan in double figures with 11 points while he also had three rebounds and two assists.
 
Up Next
The Spartans conclude their current three game road trip on Saturday afternoon when they head to Eastern University to square off against the Eagles in a MAC Commonwealth contest. Tip time in St. David's, PA is set for 3:00 pm as the back end of a league doubleheader.