The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team dropped a 72-65 decision at York College on Saturday to fall to 4-2 on the season, and 1-1 in Capital Athletic Conference action. The Eagles were led by junior forward Eric Shaw's 22 points and nine rebounds.
Both teams started off slow offensively, while Mary Washington held a 10-4 lead after 10 minutes of play. As both teams started to heat up, they doubled the point total over the next 2:30, with the Eagles holding a 15-13 advantage.
The Eagles and Spartans exchanged buckets and leads for the rest of the half, until Brent Mahoney hit a layup to tie the game at 27-27 with 40 seconds left. York went on a 4-1 run to end the half to lead 31-28 at the break.
In the second, York pushed the lead to eight, up 36-28, in the first two minutes of play. The Eagles responded with their own run, scoring eight straight to tie the game over the next 2:26. John Lutkenhaus, Austin Hall, Jacob Williams, and Shaw each had two points to fuel the run.
York answered by going on a 15-6 run, to lead 49-42 with 10:23 left. The Eagles responded again by cutting the lead to one after Jamal Newton knocked down a pair of free throws with 6:35 left. The Eagles remained within one or two possessions until York hit a pair of free throws and a three to up the lead to eight, at 64-56, with less than two minutes left.
The Eagles cut the lead to three with 38 seconds left on an Austin Hall three pointer, but York continued to knock down free throws to close the game at 72-65.
Mary Washington shot 38.1% from the field (24-63), making 4-22 three point attempts and 13-20 free throws. York shot 44.8% 26-58), making 4-19 three pointers and 16-22 free throws. York held a 42-39 edge in rebounding.
The Eagles will return to action on Wednesday night when they visit St. Mary's College in another CAC contest at 8:00 pm.