The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team outscored York College, 42-18, in the second half to secure a 74-62 victory on Saturday afternoon in Fredericksburg, VA. The Eagles improve to 13-4 overall, and 5-1 in the CAC. Senior Johnny Cronin led the way with 17 points, going 6-6 from the field and 5-7 from the free throw line, and hauling in 14 rebounds. Senior Jacob Williams also produced a double-double as he scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
UMW took an early lead of 4-3 as Cronin got the Eagles on the board with two made layups. York then went on a 6-0 run to take a 9-4 lead with 16:13 on the clock. After the Spartans went up 17-8, A.J. Robinson had a three-point play to get the Eagles within six, 17-11, with 10:44 to play.
York extended their lead to 11 with 8:56 to play, but a Robinson layup and then a Da'Shawn Cook jump shot got the Eagles within seven, 25-18. The Spartans then went on a 7-0 run to push their lead to 14, 32-18, with 5:46 remaining in the half. Riley Welch cut the lead down to 10, 38-28, with 2:36 left. Cook made two free throws with three-seconds left to put the score at 44-32 at halftime.
UMW came out of the break ready to play as they scored the first nine points of the second half to make the game 44-41 with 16:03 left in the half. Mark Madison, Cronin, Rowson, and Williams all contributed points in that run. The Eagles pulled within just one point, 47-46, as Drew Johnson knocked down a deep three-pointer with 11:40 to play.
After York went back up three points, the Eagles took their first lead of the second half, 54-49, as they went on an 8-0 run. UMW extended their lead to seven, 59-52, as Cronin muscled his way to the basket for a three-point play with just 6:10 to go.
With 4:19 remaining, Cronin scooped home a layup on an assist from Rowson and then Cronin knocked down two big free throws to put the Eagles up, 66-57, with 3:40 left in the game. The Spartans got within eight, 70-62, but Madison and Cronin both made their free throws to help the men overcome their halftime deficit and defeat York College, 74-62.
Madison chipped in 15 points, while Cook and Rowson both had nine points a piece.
UMW shot 26-58 (44.8%) from the field, 8-26 (30.8%) from the three-point line, and 14-17 (82.4%) from the free throw line. UMW won the battle of the glass as they out-rebounded York 41-35 and they dished out 11 assists.
The Eagles will be back in action on Wednesday as they will host Southern Virginia at 8 p.m.