SALISBURY, MD-The York College men's basketball team continued their recent shooting struggles as the Spartans fell to Salisbury University 74-63  loss at the Maggs Center on Tuesday night in a Capital Athletic Conference contest in Salisbury, MD. The Spartans, who have lost two straight, fall to 3-6 overall including a 1-2 mark in the conference. The Sea Gulls, who have won two straight, improve to 3-7 overall and 1-1 in league play.
    The game started out well for York as they seized a short lived advantage in the opening four minutes into the game. Back-to-back threes from Devin Jones and Sean Whittaker followed by a Whittaker tip in gave the hosts a 12-5 lead six minutes into the game. The Spartans cut the lead back down to five three different time over the next four minutes with the last time coming on a Dylan Hoffman (Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown) jumper with 10:32 remaining in the first. Hoffman's bucket cut the lead to 17-12 but the Sea Gulls responded by embarking on a 20-6 run that extended their lead to 37-18 with 1:39 left in the first. The Spartans got a quick 5-0 spurt at the end of the half, cutting their deficit to 14 at 37-23 at the break.
    The Spartans came out of the break and cut the Salisbury lead to six thanks to a 12-4 run to open the half. Unfortunately for York, the Sea Gulls responded quickly, scoring the next six points to push the lead back to 12 less than two minutes minutes later. After that Salisbury spurt, York could only get as close as eight the rest of the way as Salisbury spent the majority of the second half with a double digit lead.
    The Gulls were paced by Greg Palmer as the guard had 20 points, three rebounds, and three assists. He was 5-for-12 from the floor including 1-for-3 from distance. Palmer did almost half his damage from the charity stripe where he was a perfect 9-for-9. Devin Jones was also solid for the Gulls as he had 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal. Jones was 4-for-12 from the floor but three of his four made field goals came from distance. Whittaker added nine points and five assists off the bench while Chris McGrew chipped in with eight points and six rebounds. Salisbury shot 40% from the floor but 50% (6-for-12) from three. They also did the job at the charity stripe as they converted 20-of-26 from the line in the game including 18-of-23 in the second half.
    York was led by junior Nick Brady (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) as the reigning CAC Player-of-the-Week notched 13 points and eight rebounds for the Green and White. Freshman guard Julian Watson (Odenton, Md./Arunel) also had 13 points while he had three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Freshman Matt Moley (York, Pa./West York) played another solid game as the first year Spartan matched his career-high with 10 points in addition to three rebounds, an assist and a steal in just 13 minutes of action. Sophomore Andrew Pawlyk (Bernville, Pa./Tulpehocken) contributed eight points and seven rebounds for York. The Spartans shot 38.7% from the floor and just 20% from three (2-for-10) from distance. For the second straight contest, York struggled from the free throw line as they went just 13-for-20 from the stripe.
    The bigger Sea Gulls out rebounded the Spartans 43-38 while both teams committed 13 turnovers, had two blocked shots and had six steals.
    York returns to action on Tuesday, December 30 when they host Bridgewater College in a non-conference contest. Tip time at Charles Wolf Gymnasium is set for 7:00 pm.

GAME BOX