Greensburg, PA - The D'Youville Men's Basketball Team saw their season come to an end Tuesday evening in the first round of the AMCC Playoffs with the final score of 88-72, with the victors being the Pitt.-Greensburg Bobcats.

The game opened up with senior Julian Reed (Cheektowaga, NY/Union-Endicott) doing what he does; blocking shots. After the two teams traded several possessions, freshman Bayani Salinas (Antioch, CA/Antioch) scored the first basket of the game, drilling a three-pointer to get the Spartans on the board. A Jon Gemerek (Cheektowaga, NY/Depew) jumper gave D'Youville an early 5-2 lead, but then the offense would go cold. Greensburg would outscore the Spartans 17-2 over the next 6 minutes of the first half.

Marcus Clarke (Olean, NY/Archbishop Walsh Academy) got the Spartans back on track with a three-pointer of his own, followed by a basket by Salinas and an and-one completion by Gemerek. The Bobcats would go on another run, scoring 10 unanswered points to double-up on the Spartans. Greensburg would extend their lead thanks to back-to-back three-pointers. Clarke scored 7 points in the final minutes to do what he could to keep the game from getting too far out of reach, but the Bobcats took a 47-27 lead into the half.

D'Youville started off the second half the way they started off the game, with a three-pointer. Matt Insley (Wellsville, NY/Wellsville) drilled a shot from behind the arc, but Greensburg would soon respond. Insley would then hit another three-pointer followed 4 points from Conor Gallivan (Elma, NY/Iroquois).

Gallivan's layup sparked the D'Youville offense, with the team going on a streak of 13 unanswered points, cutting the deficit to 58-50. Pivotal baskets came from Gemerek, Reed, junior Nate Sweetman (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown) and freshman Zach Blask (Portville, NY/Portville), helping push the Spartans back into the game.

The Bobcats once again began to pull away, but the Spartans weren't ready to give up on what they worked so hard all season for. Baskets from Steve Kunelius (Oswego, NY/Oswego) and Clarke cut the game to 69-60 Greensburg with 8:01 left in the game. However, the third seeded Bobcats would keep hold a firm lead for the rest of the game. Reed made a free throw late to bring the score within 10, and Clarke would score 2 more free throws with just over a minute left, but Pitt.-Greensburg would ultimately pull away at the end, defeating the Spartans by the final score of 88-72.

"We played a poor first half on both ends of the floor," said fourth year Head Coach Earl Schunk. "After halftime we came out like the team had finished the season so well," he continued. "We cut the lead to 8 and had a couple shots to get it closer; we just never got over the hump."

Marcus Clarke led the team in scoring with 23 points, his highest output of the season. With those 23 points, Clarke went over 1,000 points for his career as a Spartan. Clarke achieved this in just 3 years on the team. The junior added 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal to his evening.

Fellow junior Jon Gemerek scored 14 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out a team high 4 assists. In his final game, senior Julian Reed scored 12 points to go with 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

Freshman Bayani Salinas scored 7 points while other first year players Zach Blask and Steve Kunelius each scored 2 points off the bench. Blask gathered 3 rebounds and Kunelius had 2. Conor Gallivan added 4 points as well. Anthony Malone (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) and Adam Ibrahim (New Port Richey, PA/Ridgewood) saw action for the team as well.

"Give credit to Greensburg, they took advantages of their opportunities," said Coach Schunk.

Reflecting on his season, Schunk is very happy with where his team came from and what they achieved this season.

"All in all, I'm very proud of this group. They came together and overcame lots of adversity to establish us as a contender in this league. This was as much fun as I've had in my 40 years of coaching," Schunk stated.

Next season, the Spartans will be without their 6'8' big man with an even bigger personality guarding the paint, and Schunk appreciates all the team's only senior did for the team.

"We thank Julian (Reed) for all he's accomplished and wish him well."

Moving forward, the team will look to continue to build on the chemistry the team has built this season.

"We have a great nucleus coming back so the future looks bright."