The Spartans got off to a good start rolling to a 34-30 lead at the half. The first half of play was very even with six points being the biggest lead for either team in the half. Every statistical category was near even for both teams with the exception of York committing more than twice as many turnovers, 9-4, and Mary Washington only shooting 2-14 from beyond the arc while York hit 4-9. The Eagles leading scorers Jon Hurd, Mike Lee, and Erik Rodriguez struggled from the field in the first half, as they shot a combined 1-16 from the field.
The second half of play began much like the first ended with York playing well and taking the biggest lead of the game at 47-40 with 13:49 left in the game. Mary Washington fought back as they fashioned a 10-2 run to take a 50-49 lead on an Evan Fowler jumper with 10:16 to play. That was the beginning of a very exciting stretch of the game as there were seven lead changes and three ties before the Eagles took the lead for good on a Fowler three with 5:51 left in regulation. The Eagles pushed the lead to as many as seven before YCP cut the lead to two on a Brandon Bushey trey with 2:18 remaining. That would be as close as the Spartans would get as they could not get key rebounds late in the game after forcing the Eagles into missed shots. The biggest turn came when Fowler missed a three as the shot clock wound down only to have Mike Lee chase down the offensive rebound and allow the Eagles to run another 30 seconds off the clock.
Bushey led the Spartans with 17 points, five rebounds, three rebounds, and a pair of steals. The Spartans’ leading rebounder was Stephen Grimes with seven boards while he also had nine points, and three assists. Senior Steve Schmehl added 10 points to the cause and sophomore forward Kenny Fass had a solid effort with 15 points for the Spartans. Freshman guard Brad Zerfing had a solid floor game with six points, six rebounds, and four assists with no turnovers in 29 minutes of action.
Two of the Eagles leading scorers, Hurd and Lee, awoke in the second half and ended the game with 11 points each. Lee added seven rebounds and two steals. Ian Summers led all scorers with 22 points while he also had five boards. Center Kevin Moore also added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles. Fowler contributed 10 points, four assists, three rebounds and one steal for MWC.
The Eagles controlled the game inside as they outrebounded YCP 35-30 for the game including a 17-10 margin in the second half. Mary Washington outscored York 38-20 in the paint and also recorded 10 second-chance points to just two for YCP. The Spartans also committed an uncharacteristic 18 times while Mary Washington turned it over just nine times.
The Spartans look to put this loss behind them as they return to action on Wednesday evening when they travel to Gallaudet University for a CAC contest. Tip time in Washington is set for 8:00 pm.