ARLINGTON, VA – The York College men's basketball team dropped their third straight as the Marymount University Saints captured a 65-56 Capital Athletic Conference victory on Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Virginia.

The Spartans are now 9-12 overall and 5-9 in the Capital Athletic Conference. The Saints improve to 9-12 overall and 6-8 in the league.

The game was back and forth early before the Saints went on a seven point run to push out to a 15-8 lead with 12:52 left in the half. York cut the Marymount lead to three at 17-14 but the Saints hit York with a 9-2 run to push out to a half-high 10-point lead at 26-16 with 7:28 showing on the first half clock.

York continued to battle as the Spartans trimmed the lead to 34-32 with 1:25 left but a Danny Ferry three gave the Saints 37-32 lead. York's Dalton Myers (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) hit a lay up with 17 seconds left as York went to the break down 37-34.

The Saints maintained their lead throughout the opening stages of the second half until the Spartans battled back. With Marymount leading 48-41, York went on an 8-0 run capped by a Myers bucket as the Spartans took a 49-48 lead with 7:42 left in regulation. Rick Narcisse answered Myers' bucket with a hoop 20 seconds after Myers' score to give the Saints a lead they would not relinquish. Narcisse pushed the lead to 52-49 with a basket on the Saints' ensuing possession. A Zack Galic (Camp Hill, Pa./Cedar Cliff) dunk with 5:12 left drew York to within one at 52-51 but York would not score again until Matt Scamuffo (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks South) hit a three with 58 seconds left. By the time Scamuffo hit that three, the Saints lead grew to 59-54. Marymount hit two free throws in each of their next two possessions to push the lead to 63-54. The Saints got a steal and lay up late to push the lead to a game high 11 points before Myers closed out the scoring with a bucket for the final nine-point deficit.

Narcisse led the Saints with 21 points as he was 9-for-18 from the floor including 1-for-1 from three and 2-for-6 from the stripe. He also had nine rebounds and six steals in his 34 minutes of work. Ferry chipped in with 13 points, five rebounds and two steals. Michael Anderson was the third Saint in double figures with 10 points.

Scamuffo led the Spartans with 20 points as he was 8-for-19 from the field including 2-for-10 from three and 2-for-2 at the line. Myers was the other Spartan in double figures as he had 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Myers was 6-for-11 from the floor and did not make a trip to the free throw line for just the second time this year. In fact, the Spartans went to the line a mere five times all day, a season low for the Green and White.

Blayde Reich (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) and Galic each added eight points to the Spartan offensive effort.

The Spartans shot 48% from the field for the game while they converted 5-for-19 (26.3%) from three. York was hurt by turnovers as the Spartans committed 19 turnovers which Marymount converted into 20 points. York won the battle on the glass 31-29.

Marymount shot 43.1% for the game including 5-of-13 (38.5%) from three. The Saints won the game at the line as they were 16-for-25 (64%). The 20 free throw disparity is the largest margin going against the Spartans all season.

The Spartans return to action on Wednesday night as they open up a two-game home stand after the tough three game road swing. The Green and White welcomes St. Mary's to York for a key conference match up. Tip time from Charles Wolf Gymnasium is set for 8:00 pm.

Matt Scamuffo photo courtesy of David Sinclair