YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball squad closed out their 2014-15 season with a highly competitive game against Salisbury University on a snowy Saturday in York. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the Sea Gulls escaped York with an 85-77 double overtime victory in Capital Athletic Conference action.

The win was important for Salisbury as the Sea Gulls captured the second seed in the upcoming CAC Tournament with their 14-4 league mark. Salisbury ends their regular season with a record of 18-7. York concludes their campaign with a record of 5-20 while they were 4-14 in CAC play.

Things did not look good for York in the opening minutes of the game, as Salisbury appeared poised to blow the Spartans out early. York found themselves down 16-6 just over eight minutes into the game as the Spartans had a hard time scoring.

The Sea Gulls held onto the lead but York used a 14-5 run to cut their deficit to one at 31-30. The Gulls scored the final five points of the half to take a 36-30 lead. The Gulls owed their halftime lead in large part to guard Justin Witmer as he drilled six first half threes en route to 18 points for Salisbury.

The Sea Gulls extended their lead to eight just under five minutes into the second half. The Spartans put together a prolonged 15-6 run to take their first lead of the game at 54-53. The Sea Gulls quickly recaptured the lead with an Adrien Straughn three with 6:08 left. York's Dalton Myers (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) tied the game for a second time at 56, setting the stage for a dramatic final five minutes of regulation.

The Sea Gulls scored six straight points to take a 63-57 lead with 4:02 left in regulation. York got a lay up from freshman Max Bell (Finksburg, Md./Francis Scott Key) followed by a pair of Matt Scamuffo (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks South) free throws, as the York deficit was two. After a defensive stop, Myers was fouled with 18 seconds left. The Spartan sophomore sunk both free throws to tie the game at 63. Salisbury's Wyatt Smith missed a three from the top of the key with two seconds left and the Gulls would be unable to get a second shot up before the horn.

In the first overtime, York got a pair of Scamuffo free throws to take the early lead. Salisbury tied the game at 65 before Myers hit a lay up to give York a two point lead. The Se Gulls scored the next five points to take a 71-67 lead with just 56 seconds left. Scamuffo drilled a three with 46 seconds left, cutting the York deficit to two. Connor Strickland then dribbled the ball off his leg and out of bounds, giving York a chance to tie the game with 26 seconds left. Myers tied the game for the fifth time with 12 seconds left as he knifed through the lane to hit a lay up, tying the game at 72. Strickland missed a jumper at the horn as the teams headed to a second overtime.

Straughn opened the second overtime with a three and the Sea Gulls would not trail in the second extra session. Strickland followed with a bucket to push the lead to 77-72. York cut the lead to four three times but that was as close as they would get before Sea Gulls drained their final six free throws of the game to forge the eight point win.

The Sea Gulls went 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the two extra periods while they also dominated on the glass, outrebounding York 11-4 in the additional 10 minutes of play.

Witmer led all scorers with 23 points, as he was 8-for-16 from the floor including 7-for-14 from three. He added four rebounds, four assists, and four steals in his 47 minutes of play. Smith added 17 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and one steal. Smith was 7-for-11 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the line. Strickland contributed 16 points and four assists for the Gulls. Straughn was the fourth Sea Gull in double figures as he tossed in 13 points including 5-for-6 from the stripe.

Bell led the Spartans as the freshman forward recorded his second straight double-double with a career-high 18 points and 13 rebounds. Bell was 7-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the line in his career-high 45 minutes of action. Scamuffo added 16 points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist for York. Junior Chris Conway (Luthersville, Md./Dulaney) contributed 12 points while Myers was the fourth Spartan in double figures with 10 points.

The Spartans shot 46.6% from the floor and 31.6% from three in the loss. York was an outstanding 17-for-20 (85%) from the free throw line in the game. Salisbury shot 50% from the floor including 14-for-32 (43.8%) from three. The Sea Gulls went a combined 29-for-65 from three in the two wins over York this year.

The Sea Gulls edged York 32-31 on the glass while the Spartans held slight advantages in second chance points (10-6) and points in the paint (32-28).

The Spartans are set to return the entire squad for next year as the team had no seniors and only one junior (Conway) during the 2014-15 campaign.

Max Bell photo courtesy of Joe Rodgers