ST. DAVID'S, PA – The York College men's basketball team dropped an 85-69 decision at Eastern University in MAC Commonwealth play on Saturday afternoon in St. David's, PA.
The Spartans trailed by as many as 14 early in the second half before York sliced their deficit to two with seven minutes left. The Eagles pulled away late for their second league win of the year.
York falls to 7-6 overall and are now 0-2 in MAC Commonwealth play. The Eagles improve to 10-3 overall and 2-0 in the league.
 
How It Happened
• The game was back and forth early as the two squads took turns with the lead. The game was tied at 11 before Chris Miers hit a driving lay-up to put the Spartans up two. The Eagles hit the Spartans with a 17-5 run over the next 5:27 of play as they turned a two-point deficit into a 28-18 lead with 7:47 left in the half. York scored five of the next seven points to draw to within seven at 30-23. Unfortunately for York, Eastern outscored York 8-4 over the final 4:57 of the half to take a 38-27 lead to the break.
• York shot just 35.5% in the first half while the Eagles converted 41% of their attempts from the floor. Eastern had a 25-20 edge in rebounding including seven offensive rebounds which led to eight second chance points.
• Eastern scored seven of the first 11 points of the second half as the lead grew to 14 points 3:10 into the period. The Eagle lead would hover between eight and 13 points over the next six minutes of play. With the Spartans trailing 58-48, the Spartans fashioned a 10-2 run covering 2:48, cutting their deficit to 60-58 with 7:54 left. Tate Landis and Pat Gilhool each had a three during the run as the Spartans were right back into the game.
• Unfortunately for York, the Eagles answered with a 9-2 run of their own, pushing the lead back to nine at 69-60 with 5:03 remaining in the game. York got it back down to six twice but the Eagles put the game away with a 14-4 run to end the game and provide for the final 16-point margin. The Eagles final margin of victory isn't indicative of the way the Spartans played during the game.
 
By The Numbers
The Spartans shot 44.8% from the floor for the game while they were 8-for-18 (44.4%) from three and 69.2% (9-for-13) from the free throw line … the Eagles converted 44.9% of their attempts from the field while they were 6-for-17 (35.3%) from three and 77.3% (17-of-22) from the charity stripe … the Eagles dominated the rebounding margin as they held a 46-28 edge in overall rebounding …. Eastern had 17 offensive rebounds which led to 16 second chance points … York committed 18 turnovers while Eastern had 16 … the Eagles had a 16-13 edge in points off turnovers … Eastern held a 42-36 advantage in paint points … Eastern had a 23-10 bulge in fast break points … there were four ties and eight lead changes in the game.
 
Spartan Notes
York is now 3-5 all-time against the Eagles as Eastern is 5-1 in Commonwealth contests … York suffered just their second loss on the road … York is now 0-4 when being out-rebounded in a game … the Spartans were again in deficit in free throws attempted as Eastern were awarded 22 attempts while York had just 13 in the game after being a minus ten attempts in the game against Alvernia on Wednesday … Eastern had 17 assists in the game, a high water mark for a Spartan opponent this year … the 13 Eastern steals were a season-high for a Spartan opponent … the Spartans placed three players in double figures led by Kai Cipalla as he tallied 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds … Cipalla was 6-for-12 from the floor including 1-for-2 from three and 3-for-5 from the stripe … Cipalla had three assists, three blocked shots and one steal for York … Tate Landis added 15 points, four assists and two steals in 27 minutes of action … Landis was 5-for-8 from the floor including 2-of-3 from distance and 3-for-3 from the line … Jayden Rowe was York's third double figure scorer with 10 points while he also had three rebounds … Pat Gilhool chipped in with eight points off the bench while he also had a blocked shot and rebound in 19 minutes of play … Chris Miers contributed seven points and five rebounds for York.
 
Up Next
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday afternoon as they welcome Stevenson University to Wolf Gymnasium for a MAC Commonwealth contest. Tip time in York is scheduled for 7:00 pm.