The game was tight early on in the first half as neither team held a significant edge in the first ten minutes of the contest. The Cardinals cut the Spartan lead 18-17 at the 8:59 mark after a Shane Sowden layup. The green and white then scored eight straight points to push the lead to 26-17 with 6:01 remaining in the half. The Cardinal defense stiffened as they held the hosts to just four points over the last six minutes of the stanza. Catholic scored nine points over that span as they trailed 30-26 at the half.
The second half opened with a 10-3 York spurt to give the Spartans a 40-29 lead just 3:08 into the half. A pair of Sowden free throws cut the Spartan lead to nine but York responded with a Kenny Fass three and the lead did not fall below double figures the rest of the way. York pushed the lead to 21 on a Chad McGowan jumper with 7:19 left and the sophomore gave York its biggest lead, a 29 point bulge, with a pair of free throws with 2:27 left in the game.
The Spartans were led by McGowan as the reigning CAC Rookie-of-the-Year poured in a team-high 18 points. McGowan added six rebounds and three steals to the Spartan attack. The sophomore forward was 7-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the line as he continues to establish himself as one of the best players in the CAC. Senior Brandon Bushey gave another great performance as he tallied 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Bushey also contributed six rebounds and an assist. Fellow senior Brian Singer also tallied 13 points as the center was 5-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Singer also had three rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Fass contributed nine points, five rebounds, and two steals to the green and white while senior Paddy Lee did not score but handed out a career-high nine assists in addition to grabbing three rebounds, blocking two shots and collecting a steal in 19 minutes of work.
Sowden took home the top scoring honors as he tallied 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor. Sowden went 8-for-14 from the charity stripe while he also had three rebounds. Pat Dwyer was the other Cardinal in double figures with 10 points and three rebounds. Dwyer handed out a team-high four assists. Nick Olivero was the only other Cardinal to have more than three points as he tallied five for the game.
The York defense was outstanding for the contest as Catholic shot 34.8% from the floor including a miserable 28% (6-for-21) in the second half. Conversely, York converted 55.6% of their shots from the field including a blistering 60.7% (17-for-28) in the second stanza. The Spartans out-rebounded the Cardinals 39-23 and held a significant 44-26 edge in points in the paint. Catholic, with their 26 points in the paint and their 12 free throws made, got just eight points from outside the paint and six of those came in the first 2:58 of the game on threes by Olivero and Dwyer.
Both teams finished the game with 16 turnovers but York made the Cardinals pay as they converted the Catholic turnovers into 20 points while CUA got just six points off Spartan miscues.
The Spartans, who are now ranked eighth in the nation, return to action on Saturday when they travel to St. Mary’s College to face the Seahawks in a key Capital Athletic Conference contest. Tip time at St. Mary’s City is set for 4:00 pm.
Catholic vs York (Pa.) 2/8/06 8:00 pm at Charles Wolf Gym - York, PA At Charles Wolf Gym - York, PA YORK (PA.) 73, CATHOLIC 46 CATHOLIC (15-6, 7-4 CAC) Shane Sowden 6-13 8-14 20; Patrick Dwyer 4-7 1-5 10; Nick Olivero 2-7 0-0 5; Scott Fumai 1-5 1-1 3; Stephen Wheeler 1-4 0-0 2; Matt Spierenburg 1-3 0-0 2; Evin Yarbrough 1-2 0-0 2; Sean Stolzenthaler 0-2 1-2 1; Steven Papageorge 0-2 1-2 1; Andrew Baker 0-0 0-0 0; John Mish 0-0 0-0 0; Sean Kelly 0-0 0-0 0; Pat Satalin 0-1 0-0 0; Aaron Kelly 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Wasilenko 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-46 12-24 46. YORK (PA.) (20-2, 9-2 CAC) Chad McGowan 7-11 4-6 18; Brian Singer 5-9 3-3 13; Brandon Bushey 6-8 0-0 13; Kenny Fass 4-6 0-0 9; Brad Zerfing 3-5 0-0 7; Nate Fry 2-2 2-2 7; Joe Yeck 2-3 0-0 4; Quinn Howard 1-5 0-0 2; Pat Kelley 0-0 0-0 0; Pat D'Arcy 0-0 0-0 0; Chris Folland 0-1 0-0 0; Mike Riley 0-1 0-0 0; Shane Beccio 0-1 0-0 0; Paddy Lee 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-54 9-11 73. Catholic...................... 26 20 - 46 York (Pa.).................... 30 43 - 73 3-point goals-Catholic 2-12 (Patrick Dwyer 1-2; Nick Olivero 1-4; Evin Yarbrough 0-1; Sean Stolzenthaler 0-2; Steven Papageorge 0-1; Scott Fumai 0-2), York (Pa.) 4-11 (Nate Fry 1-1; Brad Zerfing 1-2; Kenny Fass 1-1; Brandon Bushey 1-2; Mike Riley 0-1; Shane Beccio 0-1; Paddy Lee 0-1; Joe Yeck 0-1; Chad McGowan 0-1). Fouled out--Catholic-None, York (Pa.)-None. Rebounds-Catholic 23 (John Mish 5), York (Pa.) 39 (Chad McGowan 6; Brandon Bushey 6). Assists-Catholic 10 (Patrick Dwyer 4), York (Pa.) 16 (Paddy Lee 9). Total fouls-Catholic 13, York (Pa.) 19. A-1229 The Spartans win their 29th straight game at Wolf Gym. York has won seven straight overall as they are now ranked eighth in the nation. York travels to St. Mary's College on Saturday to face the Seahawks. Tip time is set for 4:00 pm.