YORK, PA – The York College men's basketball team had a great Saturday afternoon as they outlasted the Hood Blazers 75-72 in a high-level MAC Commonwealth contest on Saturday in York.
Not only did the Spartans win a MAC Commonwealth regular season championship, but they also honored their seniors and saw Chris Miers go over 1,000 career points in the win.
York improves to 19-6 overall and 12-2 in the league. The Blazers fall to 16-9 overall and 9-5 in the league. The Spartans 12-2 conference mark ties them with Albright for the regular season title and the Lions win the tiebreaker after the teams split in the regular season.
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans got off to another blistering start, racing out to a 16-4 lead to start the game. Jayden Rowe began the game on fire with nine points during the run as York cashed out four of six shots from distance in the spurt. Hood scored six of the next nine points, cutting the York lead to 19-10. York answered with a 9-2 run, pushing the lead to 28-12 midway through the first half.
• The Spartan lead vacillated between 12 and 16 points until York ripped off an 11-2 run, increasing the lead to 50-29 with 2:44 remaining in the half. Hood scored five of the final seven points of the half to cut the Spartan lead to 18 at 52-34.
• The second half was a much different story, much like the team's first meeting of the year in Frederick. The Blazers began the second half on a 12-3 run over the first five minutes of the half. The run cut York's lead to nine at 55-46. The Spartans eventually increased the lead to 13 at 61-48.
• Hood embarked on a 16-4 run, slicing the Spartan lead to one at 65-64 with 6:15 left in regulation. The Blazers tied the game at 67 a minute later starting an 8-2 run to take a 72-69 lead with 3:39 left. The Blazers wouldn't score again in the game. Kai Cipalla brought the Spartans to with-in one on a fast break bomb from Jackson Mascari. After York got pair of turnovers, including a key shot clock violation, and a missed shot, Chris Miers converted a lay-up to give York a 73-72 lead.
• York got another stop and Miers was fouled. He split the free throws to push the lead to two. York got another stop and a defensive rebound from Mascari. He was fouled and split his free throws with 1:01 left in the game. York got another stop but weren't able to convert on the offensive end of the floor, giving the Blazers one more crack to tie the game. Hood's Karron Mallory missed a triple but the Blazers got an offensive rebound as the ball tipped off a Spartan. With 1.4 seconds left, Garrett Cox was able to get off a corner three but he was falling away and the contested triple landed well short of the mark as the Spartans earned the win.
 
By the Numbers
The Spartans finished the game shooting 41.1% (23-for-56) from the floor but made 13-of-40 (32.5%) from three and 64% (16-for-25) from the line … the Blazers shot 38.2% (23-for-60) from the field including 5-for-23 (21.7%) from three and 77.8% (21-for-27) from the stripe … Hood was able to out-rebound the Spartans 46-34 including 15 offensive rebounds … Hood finished the game with 14 second-chance points … York had a 17-9 bulge in assists … Hood had 16 turnovers to 14 for York as both teams got 11 points off turnovers … the Spartans had a 12-6 advantage in fast break points … the Blazers had a 36-20 advantage in paint points … the Spartans led for 91.1% (36:46) of the game … Hood was led by Kullen Robinson as he poured in 18 points and pulled in 10 rebounds in 27 minutes of work … Karron Mallory added 10 points and three rebounds … Jack Fricka chipped in with 10 rebounds and seven points while Jevon Yarbrough was the other Blazer in double figures with 10 points.
 
Spartan Notes
The two games in the series were decided by a total of five points as Hood won by two points in overtime in January while the Spartans won by three on Saturday … York is now 12-9 all-time against the Blazers as the teams split their season series, each winning on their home floor … the Spartans are now 10-1 at home as they have won nine straight at Wolf Gymnasium … grad guard Chris Miers became the 27^th Spartan in school history to reach 1,000 career points with his driving lay-up with 9:13 left in the first half … he is the third Spartan this year to reach 1,000 career points joining Kai Cipalla and Jackson Mascari in reaching the milestone this year … the Spartan defense held the Blazers to 38.3% shooting as Hood is the seventh opponent York has held below 41% shooting in a game … York's 17 assists marks the 14^th time they have had 15 or more assists in a game … York blocked five more shots as they now have 92 for the season … York has won seven of their last eight … Jayden Rowe led five double figure scorers for York as he notched 16 points while he added four rebounds and an assist … Miers and Cipalla each contributed 11 points to the Spartan attack … Cipalla had six rebounds, two assists and a steal … Miers added four rebounds, three assists and a steal … Mascari chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds, three blocked shots and season-high seven assists … Tate Landis was the fifth Spartan in double figures with 12 points while he also had five rebounds, four assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
 
Up Next
These two teams will run it right back on Wednesday night in the MAC Commonwealth semifinals. The Spartans are the tournament's two seed while the Blazers are the three seed. The winner of their game advances to face the winner of the Albright/Alvernia semifinal in the championship game on Saturday March 1 at the highest remaining seed. Wednesday's tip off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

Audio Highlights Courtesy of Darrell Henry, the Voice of the Spartans

Senior Interview with Chris Miers