FROSTBURG, MD – The Frostburg State University Bobcats men's basketball team outscored the York College Spartans 21-8 over the final 4:16 of the game to secure an 83-67 Capital Athletic Conference win on Wednesday night in Frostburg, Maryland.

The Bobcats improve to 7-7 overall and 3-4 in the conference. York falls to 3-11 overall and 2-5 in the league.

York could not have gotten off to a much better start as the Green and White sprinted out to a 21-9 just over six minutes into the game. The Spartans would maintain the lead throughout the remainder of the half but Frostburg State had an important spurt at the end of the stanza. With York leading 37-27 with 1:05 left, the Bobcats outscored York 8-1 the rest of the half, cutting a double digit lead down to just three at 38-35.

The Bobcats came out of the intermission and took their first lead of the game on a Tyler Campbell lay up less than three minutes into the second half. The two squads would go back and forth with neither team holding more than a four point lead until a key series of possessions late in the game.

With the Bobcats leading 62-59, the Spartans got a stop and Mike Duffy (Hanover, Pa./South Western) collected the defensive rebound. Duffy was being fouled and attempted to get away only to get whistled for the foul. The Bobcats drained the two free throws and then Jerel Carter banged a three from the corner and a three point deficit became an eight point hole in a mere five seconds.

The Spartans stemmed the tide with a Dalton Myers (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) three point play on their ensuing possession but the Bobcats scored ten straight points to turn the five point lead into a 15 point margin. York cut the lead to 12 on a Brad Wesner (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) three but that was as close as York would get the rest of the way.

Carter led the Bobcats with 34 points, as the guard was 9-for-16 from the floor including 5-for-8 from three. He was also a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line. Carter added seven rebounds, five assists and eight steals in his 35 minutes of work. Nick Smoot added 21 points, five assists, and three steals for FSU. Smoot was 6-for-15 from the floor including 4-for-9 from three and 5-for-6 from the line. Tyler Michael added nine points to the Bobcat attack.

Myers led the Spartans with 17 points while he also had eight rebounds, four assists and a steal in his 36 minutes of action. He was 7-for-14 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the line. Sophomore Blake Straitman (Westminster, Md./Francis Scott Key) recorded his first career double-double as he earned the start in the game. Straitman had 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the loss. He was 4-for-5 from the floor while he was also 1-for-1 from three and from the charity stripe. Wesner was the third Spartan in double figures as he added 10 points for the Green and White. Freshman Max Bell (Finksburg, Md./Francis Scott Key) added nine points and nine rebounds for the Spartans in his 22 minutes of action.

Turnovers hampered the Spartans in the loss as they committed 23 miscues in the game. Frostburg turned those mistakes into 23 points.

York dominated the glass as they outrebounded the Bobcats 43-25 including 14 rebounds. That led to York holding 13-7 margin in second chance points while the Green and White also had 38 points in the paint.

The Spartans return to action on Saturday when they host Southern Virginia University in a Capital Athletic Conference. Tip time at Charles Wolf Gymnasium is set for 3:00 pm.

Blake Straitman photo courtesy of David Sinclair