ST. DAVID'S, PA – The Eastern University Eagles used a big second half to turn away the visiting York College men's basketball team, 76-59, in MAC Commonwealth play on Saturday afternoon in St. David's.
The Eagles held a four-point lead at the half but outscored the Spartans 44-31 in the second half to pull away from the Green and White.
The Eagles improved to 8-2 overall and 1-0 in the league while the Spartans fall to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the league.
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans got off to another good start as they led the Eagles 11-6 in the first five minutes of the game. The Eagles trimmed York's lead to one at 11-10 but a Sean Kelly bucket followed by a Johnny Kennevan three put York up six. The Eagles tied the game at 19 on Zubair Lee free throw with 8:00 left in the game. The Spartans took one final lead on a Chris Miers jumper with 4:37 left in the half but the Eagles scored 11 of the final 17 points of the stanza to take a 32-28 lead to the locker room.
• York scored four of the first six points of the second half but the Eagles scored the next seven points to take a 41-32 lead less than three minutes into the half. Kai Cipalla had a three-point play followed by a Miers' jumper to cut the lead back to four. However, Eastern answered with a game-changing 22-2 run that turned a four point Spartan deficit into a 24 point Eastern bulge. That run covered almost eight minutes of game time as York struggled to finish while the Eagles were hitting everything. The Spartans wouldn't be able to get any closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
 
By the Numbers
Eastern shot a blistering 52.4% from the floor in the game including 64.5% (20-for-31) in the second half while York shot 29.4% from the field in the game, their lowest shooting percentage of the season … York's 68 attempts from the field was their second-highest total of the year … the Spartans shot just 21.4% (6-for-28) from three , the fourth time this year they have been under 30% from distance in a game … York is now 1-3 when attempting 25 or more threes in a game … York's 59 points is their lowest scoring game of the year … York shot a strong 86.7% (13-for-15) from the free throw line … while the Eagles were great from the floor, they converted jut 5-of-11 from the free throw line … York missed the presence of Jackson Mascari on the glass as the Eagles dominated the rebounding numbers, 48-33 … Mascari came into the day leading the MAC Commonwealth in rebounding at 8.0 caroms per game while he is also York's leading scorer at 15.8 points per game … in their last three games, York has allowed their opponents to shoot 49.7% (85-for-171) from the floor and 45% (27-for-60) from three … York did force 20 turnovers which they turned into 21 points … Eastern got 20 second chance points off their 15 rebound advantage … Eastern had 52 points in the paint to just 17 for York.
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans are now 2-3 all-time against Eastern as the Eagles have won three straight in the series … Kai Cipalla led the Spartans with 14 points and four rebounds in 22 minutes of play … Jayden Rowe was the other Spartan in double figures with 12 points while he also had six rebounds, five assists, three steals and one blocked shot in his 28 minutes of work … Rowe's five assists and one blocked shot ties his career highs … freshman Tate Landis had a career-high seven points as he was 2-for-3 from the floor including 1-for-1 from the line and 2-for-2 from the stripe … Shawn Barclay pulled in a career-high five rebounds in the game.
 
Up Next
The Spartans will finally make their 2022-23 home debut after six games on the road to open the season. The Green and White will host Lebanon Valley in a MAC Commonwealth contest on Tuesday evening in York. The game will lead off the conference doubleheader with a 6:00 pm tip time at Charles Wolf Gymnasium.