ST. MARY'S CITY, MD – The York College men's basketball team overcame a blistering hot second half from the host St. Mary's College Seahawks and survived with an exciting 88-84 Capital Athletic Conference win on Wednesday night in St. Mary's City, Maryland.

RECORDS

York (Pa.): 11-5, 6-3 CAC

St. Mary's: 8-8, 3-6 CAC

TEAM STATS

FG Shooting (%): York 29-of-60 (48.3%), SMC 33-of-67 (49.3%)

Three Point Shooting (%): York 12-of-30 (40%), SMC 12-of-27 (44.4%)

Free Throw Shooting (%): York 18-of-20 (90%), SMC 6-of-7 (85.7%)

Rebounding: York 31, SMC 35

Assists: York 20, SMC 17

Turnovers: York 13, SMC 15

Blocked Shots: York 6, SMC 5

Steals: York 8, SMC 9

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• The Spartans got off to a torrid start in the opening five plus minutes of the game as York began the game on a 15-4 run. York maintained their lead between eight and 11 points until Ochae Bynum hit a three with 10:14 left in the half to draw the Hawks to within five at 21-16.

• The Spartan lead quickly went back up to 10 at 30-20. The lead would remain in double figures until Delaszo Smith hit a three pointer with 1:09 left in the half, drawing the Seahawks to within nine at 39-30.

• York got a huge boost right before the half as senior Brad Wesner hit a huge three from the corner with two seconds left in the half, pushing York's lead to 12 at 42-30.  

• The Spartan lead stood at 13 after a Matt Scamuffo three early in the second half. That would prove to be the largest lead for the rest of the night for York. St. Mary's steadily chipped away at the Spartan advantage and used a 10-0 run midway through the half to cut York's lead to one at 64-63 with 7:50 left in the game. York responded with six straight points to push the lead to seven.

• The Spartans continued to hold on to the lead through the next four minutes of the game as York answered every time the Seahawks tried to land a knock out punch.

• The teams traded three pointers on four straight possessions and, on the fifth, York's Scamuffo was fouled shooting a three and converted all three free throws for an 81-76 lead with 2:48 left. Again, St. Mary's would counter with a three, this time from Bynum with 2:15 left.

• Junior Blayde Reich, the reigning CAC Player of the Week, came up big on York's next offensive possession with a traditional three-point play to put York up 84-79 with 1:51 left. The Spartans fouled Bynum in the act of shooting a three and he sunk all three freebies to get the Seahawks back to within two with 1:29 left.

• St. Mary's got the ball back on a tie-up under the basket. On the inbounds play, the Seahawks beat the Spartans deep but Reich came out of no where to block the Delaszo Smith lay up attempt, preserving the two-point lead. Later in the possession with the shot clock winding down, Reich swatted another shot that caused a shot clock violation, giving York the ball with 20.7 seconds left. The Seahawks were forced to foul, sending Scamuffo to the line with 19.7 seconds left. The Spartan junior, who was a perfect 7-for-7 from the line, missed the front end but Reich tipped the ball out and Jason Bady reverted to his high school football days and chased the loose ball down before he was tackled near midcourt with 16 seconds left on the clock. The sophomore swished both, pushing York's lead back to four. Smith made a lay up on the ensuing SMC possession and then the hosts called timeout. York got the ball into Wesner as he was fouled. He sank both free throws to close out the scoring, giving York the four-point road win.

SPARTAN LEADERS

Matt Scamuffo: 32 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 7-of-15 from three, 7-of-8 from the FT line

Blayde Reich: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocked shots, 2 assists

Jared Wagner: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 3-for-3 from three

Jason Bady: 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal

Mike Frauenheim: 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal

SEAHAWK LEADERS

Matt Ayoub: 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 6-for-11 from three

Delaszo Smith: 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists

Lavonte Sanders: 14 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot, 3 steals

Ochae Bynum: 14 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal

GAME NOTES

The Spartans are now 40-24 all-time against the Seahawks … it was the second straight year that the Spartans have defeated the Seahawks in St. Mary's City … the loss was the first at home in conference play for St. Mary's as they entered the game 3-0 in the league at home … Matt Scamuffo's 32 points tied his career high which he set last February 20 against Southern Virginia … Scamuffo's seven threes ties him with Spartan Hall of Famer Andy O'Brien and future Hall of Famer Brandon Bushey for second on the single game list … John Ely holds the school record for three pointers in a game with nine, a feat he accomplished twice in his impressive Spartan career … Scamuffo now has 828 career points in 66 career games for the Spartans … Scamuffo now has 133 career threes which rank him eighth on the career list, ten back of Jason Saurbaugh who had 143 in his 101 career games … Scamuffo is 13 triples away from moving into sixth place on the list … Scamuffo is averaging 15.3 points per game over the last eight games … Blayde Reich tied his career high with his four blocked shots in the win … Reich has reached double figures in each of the last four games as he is averaging 16 points per game during the Spartans' four game win streak …. Freshman Darin Gordon dished out a career-high four assists in the win … freshman Jared Wagner reached double figures with 11 points, that is two points short of his career high and marks the fifth time this year he has reached double figures … sophomore Jason Bady reached double figures for the fourth straight game as he is averaging 11.5 points per game in his last four games … York canned 12 three pointers in the win and it's the fourth time this year in double figures in three pointers made … the 12 three pointers allowed by York ties the season high (@ Randolph-Macon) … York is now 8-1 when leading at the half … York shot a blistering 90% (18-of-20) from the free throw line in the win … the 90% mark was their highest accuracy mark of the year … York was outrebounded for the second straight game and the eighth time this year as they are 4-4 when losing the battle on the boards … York was again plus in the assist to turnover ratio with 20 assists and 13 turnovers … the Spartans are averaging 12 turnovers in their last three games … York's six blocked shots were a season high … the four point win is York's 8^th victory by less than ten points … York got 19 points off of St. Mary's 15 turnovers … the Spartans led for 38:11 of the game after taking a 3-2 lead on Darin Gordon's three pointer to open York's scoring.

UP NEXT

The Spartans return to the road on Saturday evening as they travel to Mary Washington to face the Eagles in a key Capital Athletic Conference clash in Fredericksburg. The Spartans knocked off the Eagles 72-65 in their earlier meeting on December 3 in York.  

Matt Scamuffo photo courtesy of David Sinclair Photography

Audio highlights courtesy of Darrell Henry