The Gophers jumped out to the early 12-5 lead, the largest lead of the half for either team. The Spartans answered by scoring the next six points to trim the Goucher lead to one. With the Spartans trailing 15-11, YCP put together a 7-0 run to take the 18-15 lead with 9:17 remaining in the half. The rest of the half featured seven lead changes and three changes before the Gophers secured a 31-30 lead at the half.
Goucher began the second half by pushing their lead to six at 38-32 with 18:16 remaining in regulation. The Spartans tied the game at 42 on a Brian Singer lay-up with 12:58 remaining. An 8-0 Goucher run gave the Gophers the 50-42 lead as they looked like they were ready to run away with the game. The Spartans responded in a big way as they fashioned an 18-4 run capped by a pair of Brandon Bushey treys just seven seconds apart to take the 60-54 lead. Goucher tied the game at 60 with 2:10 left but the Gophers would not score the rest of the way as they were 0-for-3 from the field and 0-for-1 from the free throw line in the last two minutes of the game. The Spartans got the game-winner on a Kenny Fass lay-up with two minutes left and got insurance from made free throws from Steve Schmehl and Bushey.
The Spartans received 18 points from Fass as the sophomore came up huge. Fass was 5-for-7 from the field including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 5-for-5 from the line. Fass also added seven rebounds in 28 minutes of action. Bushey and Schmehl each contributed 12 points. Junior Stephen Grimes pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds while freshman Brad Zerfing dished out four assists with no turnovers in addition to five rebounds, five points, and two steals. The Spartans were playing without junior center and leading rebounder Ben Seibert who missed the game due to illness. Junior Josh Wurtz and Singer filled in for Seibert as Wurtz had six points, six rebounds, and three assists while Singer added six points and two rebounds.
Garrett Smith paced the Gophers with 17 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Jonathan Garritt added 13 points and four steals while Pierre Jones was the third Gopher in double figures with 11 points.
Neither team shot the ball very well as York converted 38.3% of their attempts from the field while Goucher made just 34.9% of their shots from the floor. York held a significant advantage from the free throw line as they made 22-of-31 while Goucher went to the line 19 times, converting 12 of those attempts. The Spartans, despite missing Seibert, outrebounded the Gophers 42-36 for the game.
York returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Marymount University for a key CAC contest. Tip time in Arlington is set for 4:00 pm.