YORK, PA-The York College men's basketball team kept on
rolling with an important 79-73 Capital Athletic Conference
win over St. Mary's College on Saturday afternoon at the
Grumbacher Center in York. The Spartans, winners of seven straight,
improve to 16-6 overall and 11-2 in the CAC while the
Seahawks fall to 11-11 overall and 6-7 in the conference.
The game began with the two teams taking turns making small runs
before the play finally settled down midway through the half. The
Seahawks held a 12-10 lead on a Mike Fitzpatrick lay up just
under seven minutes into the game. The Spartans recaptured the lead
on a Levi Winters (Manchester, Pa./Northeastern)
three as the Spartans would hold the lead the remainder of the
half. York's bulge grew to as many as eight at 26-18 before
the Spartans settled for a 40-35 halftime lead.
The Seahawks came out of the break strong as they hit York with
a 15-6 run that gave the guests a 50-46 lead 6:29 into the half.
The Spartans recaptured the lead on a Nate Lankford (York,
Pa./West York) three and a Chad McGowan
(Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown) lay up. That began a stretch
of seven lead changes and five ties as the teams battled to pick up
the important conference win. The final tie of the game came when
McGowan hit a free throw with 2:19 remaining. That freebie tied the
game at 69 and set the stage for an exciting final two minutes of
the game. After St. Mary's called a timeout and had an
unsuccessful possession, McGowan converted a jumper with 1:35 left,
giving York a 71-69 lead. The Spartans added to the lead 49 seconds
later as Winters hit a clutch jumper from the top of the key with
the shot clock running down to take a 73-69 lead. Tyson Lesesne
answered with a tough lay up with 33 seconds left, cutting the
Spartan lead to two. A St. Mary's foul sent Lankford to the
line where the senior buried both pushing the lead back to four.
The Spartan defense got another stop and McGowan was fouled with 18
seconds left. The senior All-American converted both to give York a
77-71 lead. The Seahawks used 14 valuable seconds to get a Mike
Bowden bucket, cutting the Spartan lead to 77-73. The Spartans used
a St. Mary's time out to draw up a hail mary that Winters
threw to McGowan who finished the game off in impressive style with
a crowd-pleasing jam that sent the Spartan fans home happy.
McGowan led the Spartans with a game-high 26 points and a
game-high 12 rebounds. Those were good for his team-leading eighth
double-double of the year. McGowan was 10-for-21 from the field and
6-for-11 from the free throw line. He also handed out four assists
in addition to three blocked shots and three steals. Winters added
20 points, four rebounds, five steals, and two assists in his 37
minutes of work. Sophomore Nick Brady (Hanover, Pa./Delone
Catholic) was the third Spartan in double figures with 11
points and a career-high tying seven rebounds. Lankford chipped in
with nine points, three assists, two rebounds, three steals, and a
pair of blocked shots.
Lesesne and Calvin Wise paced the Seahawks with 16 points each.
Lesesne added five assists, three rebounds, and three steals as
Winters did a good job on one of the most dangerous players in the
CAC. Lesesne was 7-for-14 from the floor and 2-for-3 from three.
Wise added six boards as he was 8-for-12 from the floor. Alex Franz
contributed 10 points, five assists, five rebounds and a steal
while Alex Irmer chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds for
the Hawks. Bowden pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds for St.
Mary's while he also had six points.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 41.4% from the floor
including 5-for-14 from three. It is the first time in the last
four games that York has shot under 50% and it is the first time
since the Messiah game that York has shot under 47% for a
game. St. Mary's finished the game shooting 45.7% from
the floor but the Hawks went just 4-for-16 from deep. The Spartans
held a significant edge at the free throw line as they went
16-for-22 (72.7%) while St. Mary's got to the line just seven
times, making five.
The Seahawks handled the Spartans on the glass as they held a
47-38 advantage. That led the Seahawks to a 50-40 edge in points in
the paint and a 22-11 margin in second chance points. The nine
rebound deficit for the Spartans ties a season-high for the green
and white. York forced 22 St. Mary's turnovers which led to
25 Spartan points. Conversely, York had just 12 turnovers that led
to 13 Seahawk points.
York remains a game and a half up on Mary Washington in the race
for the regular season championship and the top seed in the
upcoming CAC tournament. The Spartans get their league bye on
Wednesday night and will return to action a week from today as they
host Wesley College on Feb. 16 at 2:00 pm. The game will be
preceded by the 2008 Senior Day ceremony as York's four
seniors will be honored for their contributions to the Spartan
program.
GAME BOX
Chad McGowan photo courtesy of Eric
Linsley
