BOX SCORE
JAMAICA, N.Y.— The York College men's basketball team got off to a sluggish start in the CUNY Athletic Conference quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon but were able to pick up their play down the stretch and defeated John Jay College, 63-55.
With the win, York (19-7) now advances to Tuesday's CUNYAC semifinals at the Nat Holman Gymnasium at City College. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. The Cardinals will battle #6 Lehman College, who upset Baruch College in their quarterfinal match-up.
The Cardinals struggled mightily in the first half, shooting just 34 percent from the field. The Bloodhounds also were able to keep York's
Michael Woods—the second-leading scorer in NCAA Division III—in check for the first half. Woods managed just five points on 2-of-11 shooting in the first 20 minutes of action.
John Jay didn't fare much better on the offensive end, and as a result, the opening half was very low scoring, with the Bloodhounds holding a narrow, 27-26, advantage going into the locker room.
In the second half, the seventh-seeded Bloodhounds began to sniff an upset against the second-seeded Cardinals. A Kris Owens three-pointer gave John Jay a 34-30 lead with 17:17 to go. But shortly after, York was able to get it going. The Cardinals responded with a 9-1 run to take a 39-35 advantage.
Omar St. John helped spark the run with four points and two steals, one of which led to a three-point play for Woods.
John Jay kept it close though and trailed by just one point (52-51) with 3:12 to go. But on the next York possession,
Justin Garvin connected on a big three-pointer to put York up by four. The Cardinals then got a couple of defensive stops and followed with buckets from St. John and Woods, to go up by eight (59-51) with just 1:27 to play. That stretch would seal the win for York.
St. John had a big game to lead York back, scoring a team-high 17 points with six boards, five assists and three steals. Woods played better in the second half and finished with 16 points and three steals and
Jaron Williams notched 12 points, seven boards and two blocks. Garvin finished with six points, four assists and a game-high five steals.
"St. John and Garvin really picked up the slack in the second half," said head coach
Ronald St. John. "We've been used to getting instant offense from Woods and it wasn't there today. It took us a little while to regroup but we were able to do it. They both get the game ball today."
John Jay was led by Owens, who netted a game-high 27 points. The Bloodhounds finish the 2013-14 season with a record of 9-17.
Tickets to the semifinal round are free but you will need to
download them first. Should York win, they will advance to the finals on Friday at 8:30 p.m.
