YORK, Pa. – The Frostburg State men’s basketball team was eliminated from the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament with a heartbreaking 65-61 loss to York (Pa.) in the first round, Tuesday.

The Bobcats (13-13) led by as many as seven points with 2:47 to play, but York closed out the game on a 12-0 run to narrowly escape and advance to the semifinals. The Spartans (16-10) will face top seed St. Mary’s (19-6) in the semi’s on Thursday, February 25.

The contest was tied at 44-44 with 8:50 to play in the second half and FSU began to slowly pull away and led 58-51 with 2:47 showing. Ten seconds later, FSU senior Maurice Williams hit a three-pointer that put Frostburg up 61-53 and seemingly in control.

However from there, York managed to outscore Frostburg 12-0 over the remainder of the contest to earn the win. Julian Watson hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds left to put the hosts up 63-61 and Paul Kouvaris hit two free throws with four seconds left for the 65-61 final.

Williams led FSU in scoring with 13 points, but the Bobcat bench provided the spark for much of the contest. The bench accounted for 33 of the team’s 61 points and grabbed 19 of 34 rebounds. Freshman Tyler Logan scored 12 and junior DeSean Antoine added 10 points off the bench while junior Kwambina Coker led the team with 10 boards.

Three starters scored in double figures for the Spartans led by 21 from Kouvaris. He also added 10 rebounds and five assists. Watson finished with 18 points on seven baskets, none bigger than his only three-pointer of the game with 16 seconds remaining.

The teams traded 11-2 runs to open the first half. The Bobcats fell behind 11-2 just under six minutes into action, but Logan hit a jumper at 13:49 that ignited an 11-2 Bobcat outburst that tied the game at 13-13 with 10:13 showing.

York pulled ahead by five, 20-15 at 6:42, but Williams and Logan combined for seven points over the next several minutes as Frostburg tied the score once again, this time at 24-24 with 2:38 left. The teams traded baskets the rest of the half as York held a 30-28 lead at the break.

In the second, neither team led by more than four points in the opening 10 minutes of play, leading to the tie at 44-44 with 8:50 left on the clock.