SALISBURY, Md. – An early lead and a late second-half rally were not enough as the Salisbury University men's basketball team dropped an 85-78 Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) decision to the York Spartans on Wednesday.

THE RUNDOWN

Final Score: York 85, Salisbury 78
Records: Salisbury (9-13, 3-4 CAC) | York (17-5, 6-1 CAC)
Location: Maggs PAC – Salisbury, Md.

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The two teams looked to take control in the early goings. Salisbury was able to jump out to a 19-11 lead behind an 11-0 run that stretched five minutes. A Lucas Martin trey capped off the scoring run for the Sea Gulls.
• York tied the game at 21 with 7:07 left in the first half but Salisbury was able to push the lead up to nine, 33-24 when Johnny Fierstein converted an and-one at the final media timeout of the first half. 
• The Spartans had a quick spurt during the final two minutes of the game to tie the game at 35 with 49 seconds left in the first half when Joe Polczynski hit a three-pointer in the wing.
• Gary Briddell split two free throws in the waning moments of the first half to give Salisbury the 36-35 lead over York heading into the locker room.
• J.P. Krotulis opened the second stanza with a putback to give Salisbury the three-point lead, 38-35.
• Foul trouble started to doom the Sea Gulls in the early parts of the second half. York capitalized on the Salisbury foul trouble with a 23-7 run that spanned seven minutes to take a 58-48 lead. York was able to get to the 1-and-1 bonus at 13:07 on the clock.
• Despite the foul trouble and trailing by double-digits, Salisbury clawed it's way back into the game. Four-straight from beyond the three-point arc cut the York lead down to 66-62 with 6:47 left in regulation.
• A Devin Garrett hook shot in the paint and back-to-back threes by Briddell and Garrett on consecutive possessions tied the game at 70 with 5:00 left in the game.
• York regained the lead powered by back-to-back threes by Polczynski to take a 79-73 lead into the final two minutes of regulation.
• Salisbury dropped the York lead to three on a Garrett and-one but York's late-game free-throws closed out Salisbury's second-half rally.

GAME NOTES

• Gary Briddell led all scorers with 23 points. He was 8-of-18 from the floor, including 5-of-10 from three. Briddell tied a game-high with seven boards and stole the hall three times.
• Lucas Martin, J.P. Krotulis, Johnny Fierstein and Devin Garrett all notched double figures with 10 points apiece. Krotulis reeled in seven rebounds and recorded two steals. 
• Fierstein dished out a team-best five assists and grabbed three rebounds while Garrett registered six rebounds.
• Mike Ward scored six points and added four assists.
• Joe Polczynski and Jared Wagner each had 17 points for York.
• Salisbury capitalized on 15 York turnovers with 19 points.
• Salisbury shot 43.9 percent (26-of-66) from the field. York finished the game with 48.1 percent (26-of-54) shooting with 13-of-26 from deep.

UP NEXT

• Salisbury will play its final home game of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 8 when they host the Southern Virginia Knights.
• The game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
• Prior to the game, the Sea Gulls will honor Lucas Martin and J.P. Krotulis as part of senior day.
• Live stats and video are available.