YORK, PA – In a game that had an NCAA Tournament feel to it, the #12 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays slipped past the York College men's basketball team 64-62 in a non-conference contest in York. The game was the home opener for the Spartans.
The Blue Jays trailed by 10 points with 13 minutes left in the game but stormed back and snapped their two-game losing streak.
Hopkins improves to 2-2 while the Spartans suffer their first loss, falling to 2-1.
 
How It Happened
• The first half got off to a slow start in the scoring department as the score was tied at six eight minutes into the game. The Blue Jays scored eight of the next ten points to take a 14-8 lead with 9:56 remaining in the half. Hopkins pushed the lead to game-high seven at 20-13 on a Carson James jumper in the paint at the 4:41 mark. The Blue Jays maintained the lead until York went on a 7-0 spurt late in the half to take a 27-25 lead as Kai Cipalla and Jayden Rowe hit back-to-back threes for York. John Windley hit a jumper with 12 seconds left in the half to tie the game heading to the break.
• York came out of the intermission and hit the Blue Jays with a 9-1 run as they took a 36-28 advantage. Cipalla was the driving force on the run as he scored all nine points for York. Six on three straight lay ups followed by a three that gave the Spartans an eight point lead.
• The York lead climbed to ten at 41-31 with 13:33 left but the Blue Jays responded with a quick 6-0 run to cut their deficit to four. The Spartans went over two minutes without scoring before Cipalla ended the drought with back-to-back lay ups to push the lead back to eight with 10:13 remaining in the game.
• Hopkins cut the Spartan lead to four on a Windley triple but York quickly got the lead back up to nine on a Jackson Mascari three with 6:58 left. Hopkins immediately answered with a Brayden Fagbemi three and that kick-started a 13-2 run that gave the visitors a 56-54 lead with 4:17 remaining. Chris Miers got a steal and lay-up to tie the game at 56, setting the stage for a frenetic last three and a half minutes of the game.
• Carson James hit a pair of free throws only to have Mascari convert a pair of his own with 3:22 left. After each team had an empty possession, James drained a three to give Hopkins a 61-58 lead at the 2:38 mark. Each team had two fruitless possessions before Miers hit a pair of free throws with 52 seconds left to draw York to within one at 61-60. York got a miss on the ensuing Hopkins possession but the long rebound off the missed three eluded the Spartans as Fagbemi chased down his own offensive rebound before getting fouled. York was forced to foul again and Fagbemi made both free throws to put Hop back up by three. York missed a three on their next possessions and the Blue Jays were able to close out the game.
 
By the Numbers
The Spartans finished the game shooting 43.1% from the floor, 27.3% (6-for-22) from three and 60% (6-for-10) from the stripe … the Blue Jays shot 41.2% from the field, 52.6% (10-for-19) from three and 70.6% (12-for-17) from the free throw line … the Blue Jays edged York 36-35 on the glass … York committed just 11 turnovers in the game while the Blue Jays had 15 miscues … both teams had nine steals … York outscored JHU 36-22 in the paint … York scored 16 points off the 15 Hopkins turnovers … there were six ties and four lead changes in the game.
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans are now 6-5 all-time against the Blue Jays as Hopkins has won four straight in the series … junior Kai Cipalla had a season-high 28 points, two short of his career high of 30 … Cipalla was 12-for-22 from the floor including 3-of-10 from three and 1-for-3 from the free throw line … Jackson Mascari led the Spartan charge on the glass as he had nine caroms to go along with seven points and two assists … Jayden Rowe added 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and one steal … Rowe went 7-for-14 from the floor and 1-for-4 from three … the Spartans made a season-low six three-pointers as they shot a season-worse 27.3% from distance … the Spartans' 11 turnovers were a season low … York allowed a season-high 10 threes to the Blue Jays … York's six made free throws and 10 attempts were a season-low for the squad.
 
Up Next
The Spartans continue their four-game home stand on Saturday when they host Gettysburg in a non-conference contest. Tip time at Charles Wolf Gymnasium is set for 3:00 pm.
 
Audio Highlights Courtesy of Darrell Henry - The Voice of the Spartans