YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team put together their most complete effort of the year as the Spartans cruised by Southern Virginia University 79-51 in Capital Athletic Conference play on Saturday in York.

The Spartans improve to 4-11 overall and 3-5 in the CAC while the Knights fall to 2-12 overall and 0-8 in the league.

The two squads went back and forth in the opening ten minutes of the game before the Spartans took the lead for good on a Blake Straitman (Westminster, Md./Francis Scott Key) triple from the top of the key with 8:10 left in the first half. Straitman's three came early in a 20-2 run that turned a four-point Spartan deficit into a 14-point lead. A Taylor Larson three cut the Spartan lead back to 11 but Evan Crosby (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit) hit a lay up just before the half to give York a 29-16 lead at the intermission.

The Spartans put the game out of reach with a 16-5 run to start the second half as the York lead ballooned to 24 at 45-21. York would build the lead to as many as 33 before settling for the 28 point win. The victory was York's largest of the year and is their biggest since the 41 point blowout of Knox on December 22, 2012.

The Spartans placed three players in double figures as Dalton Myers (Finksburg, Md./Westminster), Crosby and freshman guard Matt Scamuffo (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks South) each tallied 14 points in the win. Myers was 7-for-10 from the floor while he also dished out a career-high seven assists and grabbed five boards in his 29 minutes of work. Crosby's 14 points established a new career high as he returned to the lineup after missing the last five games due to injury. Crosby was 4-for-6 from the floor and 6-for-8 from the free throw line. Scamuffo scored his 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting including 4-for-5 from three in just 22 minutes of action.

Freshman Max Bell (Finksburg, Md./Francis Scott Key) added eight points and five rebounds in 18 minutes. Bell was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line. Ten of the 11 Spartans who played in the game scored at least two points.

The Spartans finished the game shooting a season-high 67.4% (29-for-43) while they converted 7-of-12 (58.3%) from three. York was also sharp at the free throw line as they went 14-for-18 (77.8%) from the stripe. The field goal percentage was the second highest in school history, just .5% behind the school record of 67.9% which was set in the December 14, 2009 game against Wesley.

David Baety and Larson led the Knights as they each had 11 points. Baety was 5-for-15 from the floor including 1-for-6 from three while he also had five rebounds. The Spartan defense harassed him into seven turnovers in the game. Larson was 4-for-7 from the floor including 3-for-4 from three. Larson also had five rebounds in 22 minutes of action. The Knights shot 38.8% from the floor and 33.3% from three in the loss.

The Knights outrebounded the Spartans 24-21, which helped Southern Virginia hold a 9-2 margin in second chance points. The Green and White dominated the paint as they outscored their guests 40-18 in points in the lane.

Defensively, the Spartans held SVU to just 51 points and forced 21 turnovers. The 51 points tied York's season low for points allowed while the Green and White turned the SVU turnovers into 28 points. The Spartans also got a season-high 39 points off the bench in the win.

The Spartans return to action on Wednesday night when they travel to St. Mary's College to face the Seahawks in a Capital Athletic Conference. Tip time from St. Mary's City, Maryland is set for 8:00 pm.

Evan Crosby photo courtesy of Joe Rodgers