FREDERICK, MD-The York College men's basketball team opened their 2008-09 conference slate in impressive fashion as the Spartans posted an 80-68 road win at Hood College in Frederick, MD on Wednesday night. The Spartans improve to 3-4 overall and 1-0 in the conference as they won back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Blazers dropped their second straight as they fall to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the league.
    The Blazers jumped on York early, leading the Green and White 9-4 just over four minutes into the game. The Spartans scored the next six points to take a 10-9 lead. That would be short lived as the Blazers went on a 10-2 run to take a 19-12 lead with 11:24 remaining in the half. After a Julian Watson (Odenton, Md./Arunel) lay up cut the Hood advantage back to five, Tyler Snoots hit a jumper in the lane to give Hood a 21-14 lead. The Spartans then began to wrestle control of the game away from the Blazers as they went on a 9-2 spurt that tied the game at 23. Hood's Ryan Junghans hit a three but junior Nick Brady (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) answered with a three of his own to retie the game at 26. The two teams traded baskets as the game was tied at 28. Brady then hit a lay up with 7:01 remaining that kick started a 11-2 run that gave the Spartans a 41-30 edge three minutes prior to the half. The Spartans maintained that lead heading in to the half as York took a 50-39 edge to the break.
    The second half was more of a defensive oriented stanza. The Spartans were able to maintain their lead between seven and 11 points over the first 12 minutes of the half. The Blazers then made a run at the visitors as they fashioned a 10-4 run that shrunk a 63-52 Spartan lead to a 67-62 margin. Brady took the Spartans on his back at crunch time as he ended the Hood run with a basket, a defensive rebound and a pair of free throws to push York's lead back up to nine at 71-62 with 3:31 remaining. Tim Abercrombie converted a three on the Blazers' next trip, cutting the lead the six but York finished the final 3:18 of the game outscoring the hosts 9-3 to ice the win. The Spartans were very good at the free throw line in the final four minutes as they converted six of their final attempts to ensure victory.
    Brady was outstanding as he tied his career-high with 27 points. The junior captain was 10-for-20 from the floor including 1-for-4 from three. He also converted 6-of-7 from the free throw line in the game. Brady also notched a double-double as he pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds while he added five assists. Sophomore Dylan Hoffman (Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown) established a new career-high with 12 points while he also had three rebounds and three assists. Junior captain Jeremy Keefer (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra) and Watson each chipped in 10 points to the Spartan cause. Keefer added six rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Watson contributed a career-high tying six rebounds and three assists in his 37 minutes of work. Sophomore Andrew Pawlyk (Bernville, Pa./Tulpehocken) earned the start for York and responded with a career-high eight points and a career-high tying five rebounds. Senior Mike Riley (Webster, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit) came off the bench to tally nine first half points. All of Riley's points came in the final 2:43 of the half when the Spartans were building their lead.
    The Blazers placed four players in double figures led by Abercrombie as the senior tallied 19 points, handed out five assists and pulled in four rebounds. Abercrombie was 6-for-16 from the floor including 2-for-6 from three while he sunk five of six at the line. Junghans, one of the top scorers in the CAC, finished the game with 11 points and three assists in 31 minutes of action. Junghans was 4-for-9 from the floor including 3-of-5 from distance. Senior post Jeff Willison finished the game with 10 points as he was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor. He also pulled in five boards for the Blazers. Snoots was the fourth Blazer in double figures as he also had ten points. J'Air Brady contributed eight points, eight rebounds, and three assists for Hood.
    York finished the game shooting 46.3% including 60% in the decisive first half. York took just nine threes in the game, nailing four of them for a 44.4% conversion percentage. The Green and White was a stellar 14-for-16 (87.5%) from the free throw line for the game.
    Hood shot 46.6% for the game but just 33.3% (5-for-15) from distance. The Blazers made 9-of-14 (64.3%) from the charity stripe.
    The Spartans finished the game with a 42-30 edge on the glass as they have out-rebounded all but one opponent this year.
    York returns to action on Saturday evening as they host Stevenson University in a CAC contest. Tip time at Charles Wolf Gymnasium is set for 7:00 pm.

GAME BOX