YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak to Salisbury University as the Spartans handed the Sea Gulls a 78-71 Capital Athletic Conference loss on Monday night in York. The Spartans improve to 17-4 overall and 9-3 in the CAC while the Sea Gulls fall to a deceptive 11-9 overall and 7-5 in the CAC. The win over the Sea Gulls is their first since February 6, 2008 when the Spartans captured an 84-74 victory at Wolf Gym.

Salisbury took control early before Spartan senior Nick Brady (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) drilled home consecutive threes to give York a 16-8 lead with 13:29 remaining in the first. The Spartans' first half lead eventually grew to nine, reaching that high-water mark on three different occasions. The Sea Gulls were not deterred as they hit York with a quick 6-0-spurt midway through the half to trim the Spartan lead to a deuce at 27-25. The Spartans responded with a 9-2 run to increase the lead back to nine. The Spartans would settle for a 38-32 halftime lead despite suffering some significant foul trouble as the Green and White found themselves with 12 team fouls to just seven for Salisbury.

The Sea Gulls came out of the half and hit York with an 8-2 spurt, tying the game at 40 on a Chris McGrew layup just over three minutes into the half. The Spartans responded with a Jeremy Keefer (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra) jumper and a Brady fast break lay up to recapture the lead.

Over the next five minutes, the Sea Gulls trimmed the York advantage to two on three different occasions but each time the Spartans kept the visitors at bay. The third and final time came on a Mike Maczko lay up with 10:57 remaining in regulation. The Spartans then fashioned an extended 16-7 run that increased the York lead to 66-55 with 6:39 left. The Sea Gulls got a pair of Greg Palmer threes followed by a Drew Dickson lay up to cut the Spartan lead to 71-65 with 3:37 left.

The Sea Gulls made it interesting over the final two minutes of the game. Maczko cut the York lead to 73-69 on a lay up with 1:35 remaining. The Sea Gulls got a stop and the Spartans did the same before junior Dylan Hoffman (Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown) drew a foul on an inbounds play to go to the line with 41 seconds left. Hoffman split the pair, as the York lead was 74-69. Sea Gull Devin Jones drew a foul with 32 seconds remaining and drilled both freebies to draw the Sea Gulls to within three at 74-71. The Sea Gulls fouled junior Kevin Whaley (Dover, Pa./Dover) and the guard calmly sank the pair, pushing the York lead to five at 76-71. Maczko missed a three on the ensuing Salisbury possession as Keefer was fouled on the rebound. The senior missed the front end as McGrew pulled in the rebound. Salisbury Chris Edwards then had a huge turnover as he stepped out of bounds with 13 seconds left giving the Spartans the ball back in great shape. Salisbury had to foul Brady and the conference's best free throw shooter iced the game with a pair of tosses with 11 seconds remaining.

Brady led the Spartans with a game-high 26 points, as he was 9-for-18 from the floor including 6-for-9 from three. It is the second time in three games that Brady has recorded a career-high in three point field goals. He canned both free throws while he also pulled in a team-high nine rebounds. Whaley was the other Spartan in double figures with 14 points including 8-for-9 from the free throw line. Whaley also had three assists, two blocked shots and a pair of steals. Hoffman added nine points while sophomore Paul Kouvaris (Baltimore, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) had a very strong overall game with seven points, eight rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and a steal. Keefer contributed nine points, six assists, and four rebounds.

Palmer was outstanding for Salisbury as the smooth guard tallied 25 points on just 12 shots from the floor. He was 9-for-12 from the field including an impressive 5-for-5 from three. He also made both of his free throws while he collected four rebounds. McGrew recorded the double-double with 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. McGrew was 8-for-16 from the floor while nine of his 16 rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor. Jones and Maczko each contributed 11 points for the Sea Gulls. Jones handed out a game-high six assists while Maczko pulled in eight rebounds in the loss.

The Spartans shot 44.3% from the floor including a sharp 47.6% (10-for-21) from three. Salisbury shot 42.2% from the field for the contest including just 23.8% (5-for-21) from three. Excluding Palmer's five triples, the remaining Gulls went 0-for-16 from distance.

Both teams ended the game with 19 trips to the free throw line. York made 14 of those attempts while Salisbury converted 12.

The Sea Gulls outrebounded York 43-35 but the Spartans held a slight 16-11 edge in second chance points. The Sea Gulls finished the game with a 30-26 margin in points in the paint.

The Spartans begin their final four game stretch of the season on Thursday night as they travel to Gallaudet University to face the Bison in a conference contest. Tip time for the final regular season meeting between the two schools is set for 8:00 pm. The Spartans play three of their final four regular season games away from Charles Wolf Gymnasium where the Spartans are now 13-0 for the campaign.

Mitch Kemp photo courtesy of Zach Clabaugh (www.sharpedgephoto.smugmug.com)