By Josh Mangham
York’s men’s basketball 1sts continued their habit of finishing games strongly to eventually win an increasingly one-sided encounter against St John’s 94-39.
York rushed into an early lead, going 11-0 up within two minutes thanks largely to sterling work from Dan Baark, who was especially influential in the early part of the match. St Johns woke from their early slumber to fight back though, gaining points through a combination of free throws and a few excellent three pointers, and by the end of the first quarter the game was finely balanced at 23-20.
In the second quarter York managed to build some distance between themselves and St Johns. Although at this stage the visitors were still very much in the game, York were able to go into half time 39-26 ahead, with Marcus Johanssen bringing composure on the ball and clinical finishing to the home team’s play.
In the third and fourth quarters York extended their lead further, as St Johns started to tire. At one point near the end of the game such was York’s dominance that five shots in a row were taken without netting before on the sixth attempt scoring, all the while still keeping possession of the ball. Whilst the last two quarters saw York put 55 points on the board, St John’s own total in that period of only 13 points told the story of York’s superiority as the game wore on.
This was a fitting finish to this year’s Varsity weekend, with York University overwhelming their opponents in a manner seen throughout the two days of competition.