The Spartans seized the early momentum as they began the game with a 15-3 run over the first 4:24 of the contest. York eventually pushed the lead to as many as 17 as they led 30-13 on a Paddy Lee layup. Edgewood scored nine of the next ten points to slice their lead to nine with 6:39 left in the half. The Spartans kept the lead in double digits for most of the remainder of the half as they went to the intermission leading 41-29.
The second half began with the two teams trading baskets as the Spartan lead stayed between seven and 15 points for the first 11 minutes of the stanza. That’s when the Eagles began their climb back into the game. With York leading 65-53, Edgewood embarked on a 17-5 run capped with a David Michalkiewicz trey that tied the game at 70 with 4:28 left. The Spartans recaptured the lead on a pair of Ben Seibert free throws but Edgewood retied the game on two Kyle Scott freebies with 3:02 remaining in regulation. Seibert gave the Spartans a lead they wouldn’t lose with a free throw at the 2:29 mark. Junior Brandon Bushey then hit a critical trey with 1:37 left to give the Spartans some breathing room. Scott hit two more free throws for Edgewood to draw them to within two at 76-74. Freshman Chad McGowan split two free throws and after a miss by Edgewood, sophomore Brad Zerfing hit two clutch free throws with 22 seconds left. Junior Kenny Fass hit one of two to provide the green and white with a six point bulge. Scott nailed a trey for Edgewood with one second left to cut the Spartan lead to three but York inbounded the ball and ran off the remaining second for the win.
Fass and McGowan shared the team-high scoring honors for the Spartans as both tied their respective career highs with 20 points. Fass added six rebounds, four assists, three steals and one blocked shot while McGowan contributed six rebounds, a block, and an assist. Bushey was the third Spartan in double figures with 14 points while he also had four boards and three assists. Seibert chipped in nine points, a team-high seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals to the Spartan attack. Lee led the Spartans with five assists.
Seth Cooper was fantastic for Edgewood as the junior forward poured in a game-high 32 points on 11-for-17 shooting from the floor. Cooper capped a terrific tournament as he established new tournament records with 60 total points and a perfect 17-for-17 performance from the free throw line. Michalkiewicz was also outstanding for the Eagles as he added 22 points, five assists, three steals, and three rebounds. Michalkiewicz was 5-for-7 from beyond the arc and 8-for-14 from the field overall. Scott was the third Eagle in double figures with 10 points. Charlie Averkamp led the Eagles on the boards as he pulled in nine caroms for the contest.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 45.5% from the floor but just 38.1% in the second half. Edgewood converted 43.3% of their attempts from the field. Edgewood was again outstanding from the free throw line as they hit 15 of their 16 attempts from the line. For the tournament, the Eagles made 36 of their 38 shots from the line.
In the consolation game, Oneonta (4-6) survived an upset bid by Drew (2-11) as the Red Dragons posted a 60-57 win to finish third in the tournament.
Oneonta led most of the contest but Drew, trailing by nine, hit the Red Dragons with a 12-1 run to take a 57-55 lead with just 1:19 remaining in regulation. Oneonta’s Michael Reardon drilled a clutch three just 11 seconds later to give Oneonta a 58-57 lead. Sean Coffey hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to provide for the Red Dragons’ final margin of victory.
Coffey and William Heslin led the Red Dragons as they each tallied 13 points. Heslin added ten rebounds to record the double-double while Kevin Reed chipped in with nine points, ten rebounds, and four assists.
Bob Carella led Drew with 10 points and seven rebounds. Leon Thomas contributed nine points while Mike Amalfie had eight points and six rebounds in just nine minutes of action.
York returns to action on Wednesday as they travel to Marymount University for a key Capital Athletic Conference contest. Game time in Arlington, VA is set for 8:00 pm.