From the E-town College Website:
Box score
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. --- Will Kelly scored a game-high 30 points to lead Lycoming College to a 90-81 victory over Elizabethtown College in a Commonwealth Conference men's basketball semifinal game at Lamade Gymnasium Wednesday night.
Eric Anthony added 19 points for the Warriors (21-5 overall), who will host Albright College in the championship game Saturday after the Lions held off Messiah College 73-67 in Wednesday's other semifinal contest.
Mike Church led the Blue Jays (16-9 overall) with 22 points and nine rebounds in his final career game, as all five starters reached double figures. Elizabethtown overcame a 15-point first-half deficit to briefly take a one-point lead midway through the second half, but committed 22 turnovers which led to 25 points for Lycoming.
Kelly went 8-for-12 from the field, including 4-for-7 from three-point range, and finished 10-for-10 at the foul line as the Warriors went 26-for-33 from the stripe in the second half and 31-for-41 for the game. In three meetings with the Blue Jays this season, Kelly averaged 25.7 points per game and went 20-for-20 from the foul line to help the Warriors win two of the three games.
Lycoming jumped to a quick 9-2 lead after four minutes and took its largest lead of the night at 26-11 with 7:37 left in the first half on the second of back-to-back three-pointers by Kelly. The Warriors led 37-25 at halftime behind 15 points from Kelly, while the Blue Jays shot just 23.1 percent (6-for-26) from the field.
Trailing 51-41 with 14:57 to play, the Blue Jays went on a 13-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 54-53 on two free throws by Keith Fogel with 11:10 to go. After two free throws by Anthony put the Warriors back ahead 55-54, Fogel gave Elizabethtown its last lead of the night at 56-55 on a layup with 9:58 remaining.
The Warriors regained the lead for good as Ihsaan Davis went to the foul line on each of Lycoming's next four possessions and hit all eight of his free-throw attempts to push his squad's lead to 63-60 with 8:39 to go.
After Church hit two free throws with 7:58 remaining, back-to-back three-pointers by Kelly and Sebastian Sabella and a layup from Johnathan Williams gave Lycoming a 71-62 lead with 6:36 left. Elizabethtown would get no closer than five the rest of the way as the Warriors went 8-for-10 from the stripe in the final 2:25.
Fogel finished with 16 points and four steals for the Blue Jays, while Kyle McConnell tallied a career-high 14 points before fouling out with 3:29 to go. Also reaching double figures were Joe Flanagan, with 12 points, and Josh Houseal, who scored 11 points in 29 minutes in his final game as a Blue Jay.
Both teams shot 43 percent from the field for the game, while Lycoming finished with a 40-33 edge on the glass including 14 offensive rebounds. Sabella scored nine points off the bench for the Warriors, whose reserves outscored the Blue Jay substitutes by a 24-6 margin.
Church finished his career at Elizabethtown with 1,068 points, ranking 29th on the school's all-time list, along with 581 rebounds, 141 assists, 140 blocked shots and 134 steals in 94 games. Houseal tallied 401 points and 270 rebounds in 80 career games, while Chris Jones scored the final two of his 166 career points in the second half.
From the Lycoming College Website:
Warrior basketball advances to Commonwealth Conference finals
Box Score
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Behind the cold-blooded shooting of junior forward Will Kelly, the No. 1 seeded Lycoming College Warriors advance to the Commonwealth Conference playoffs after downing No. 4 Elizabethtown College 90-81 on Wednesday, Feb. 24. This will be the first appearance for Lycoming in the Commonwealth championship game since the 2007-08 season.
The Warriors (21-5) took a 37-25 lead into half time, leading by 15 with 7:37 left in the stanza. Kelly dominated the game from the start, hitting six of his first eight attempts in the game, including three of five from beyond the arc. His second miss came at the buzzer on a shot from beyond half court. Kelly finished the half with 15 points and three rebounds while Eric Anthony posted nine points with three assists. Lycoming continued its high-pressure defense, forcing Elizabethtown into 10 turnovers, eight of which were Warrior steals.
In the second half, Kelly proved what it took to ice a game, hitting 100 (10-for-10) percent of his free throws, and missing just two of his four shots from the field, posting another 15 points. Anthony registered an additional 10 points, going five-of-six from beyond the arc. Lycoming’s bench play was crucial in the half, outscoring the Blue Jay substitutes 20-6, led by Sebastian Sabella who posted nine points.
Kelly led the game in scoring with 30 points, going eight-for-12 from the field, including four of seven from beyond the arc. He also pulled down five rebounds. Anthony finished the game with 19 points and four assists. Ihsaan Davis recorded 10 points. Freshman Jerald Williams tallied nine points, four assists and three steals. Mike Bradley tallied a game-high nine rebounds.
The Warriors shot well all game, going 43.3 (26-of-60) percent from the field, hitting three of their six three-point attempts in the second half. Lycoming’s pressure resulted in 16 steals on 22 E’Town turnovers.
Elizabethtown (16-9) finished with all five starters in double-figures, led by Mike Church’s 22 and Keith Fogel’s 16. Kyle McConnell put up 14 points while Joe Flanagan and Josh Houseal chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Warriors (21-5) will play No. 2 Albright College on Saturday, Feb. 27 at a time to be determined on Thursday, Feb. 25. Please check back in the afternoon for the time.
Notes: Lycoming and Albright split the series this season … The Lions won at Lycoming 84-80 on Jan. 30 while Lycoming claimed the win 74-69 on the road … Kelly has posted season-highs against Elizabethtown (28 on Jan. 20 and 30 in tonight’s game)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Blue Jays to Play at Lycoming in Wednesday's Commonwealth Semifinals
From the E-town College Website:
Live stats
Live audio via ESPN Williamsport
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College will travel to Lycoming College for a Commonwealth Conference men's basketball semifinal game Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. in Lamade Gymnasium.
The fourth-seeded Blue Jays (16-8 overall, 8-6 Commonwealth) earned the final conference playoff spot with an 81-69 victory over Arcadia University, while the Warriors (20-5 overall, 10-4 Commonwealth) clinched the top seed with a 76-74 victory over Widener University Saturday afternoon. Ticket prices are $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $2 for students, with children under six admitted free.
Elizabethtown is making its eighth appearance in the Commonwealth Conference playoffs in the last 10 seasons, and has advanced to the championship game five times in its previous seven trips to the tournament. Last year, the Blue Jays defeated Albright College 68-64 in the semifinals before falling to Widener 67-65 in the championship game.
The Blue Jays and Warriors have met four previous times in the postseason, with Lycoming winning in 1974, 1978 and 1996 and Elizabethtown capturing a 79-68 win in Williamsport in the most-recent meeting in 1997. During the regular season, the teams split their two meetings with each winning on its home court. Lycoming posted an 89-74 win on Jan. 20 in Williamsport, while the Blue Jays picked up a 92-85 decision last Thursday in Elizabethtown.
Leading the way for Elizabethtown are the trio of center Mike Church, who leads the team in scoring (15.0 points per game), rebounding (8.9 per game) and blocked shots (49), guard Keith Fogel, who is averaging 13.9 points per game and leads the team with 44 three-pointers and 51 steals, and swingman Joe Flanagan, who averages 13.0 points per game and has canned 31 three-pointers.
The Warriors are paced by Eric Anthony, who averages 15.3 points per contest, along with Will Kelly who averages 14.9 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game.
In the other semifinal game, second-seeded Albright hosts third-seeded Messiah College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The winners of Wednesday's games will meet Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed for the Commonwealth Conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
From the Lycoming College Website:
Men's basketball to host Elizabethtown in Commonwealth semifinals
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Lycoming College men’s basketball team will host Elizabethtown College in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Lamade Gymnasium. The Warriors (20-5, 10-4) earned the No. 1 seed after defeating Widener University 76-74 on Saturday, Feb. 20.
Ticket prices have been set by the Middle Atlantic Conferences’ office and are $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $2 for students. Children under 6 will be admitted free of charge.
The Lycoming sports information department will be running a live statistical feed. Please click here.
ESPNWilliamsport 104.1 FM and 1050 AM will have a live radio feed for the game. Please click here.
Lycoming is led by senior guard Eric Anthony, who averages 15.3 points per game, and was named the Warrior of the Week for Feb. 22, following an outstanding three-game week in which he averaged 18.3 points. Freshman guard Jerald Williams has tallied 79 steals and his 139 assists rank third all-time for a single-season at Lycoming.
Live stats
Live audio via ESPN Williamsport
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College will travel to Lycoming College for a Commonwealth Conference men's basketball semifinal game Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. in Lamade Gymnasium.
The fourth-seeded Blue Jays (16-8 overall, 8-6 Commonwealth) earned the final conference playoff spot with an 81-69 victory over Arcadia University, while the Warriors (20-5 overall, 10-4 Commonwealth) clinched the top seed with a 76-74 victory over Widener University Saturday afternoon. Ticket prices are $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $2 for students, with children under six admitted free.
Elizabethtown is making its eighth appearance in the Commonwealth Conference playoffs in the last 10 seasons, and has advanced to the championship game five times in its previous seven trips to the tournament. Last year, the Blue Jays defeated Albright College 68-64 in the semifinals before falling to Widener 67-65 in the championship game.
The Blue Jays and Warriors have met four previous times in the postseason, with Lycoming winning in 1974, 1978 and 1996 and Elizabethtown capturing a 79-68 win in Williamsport in the most-recent meeting in 1997. During the regular season, the teams split their two meetings with each winning on its home court. Lycoming posted an 89-74 win on Jan. 20 in Williamsport, while the Blue Jays picked up a 92-85 decision last Thursday in Elizabethtown.
Leading the way for Elizabethtown are the trio of center Mike Church, who leads the team in scoring (15.0 points per game), rebounding (8.9 per game) and blocked shots (49), guard Keith Fogel, who is averaging 13.9 points per game and leads the team with 44 three-pointers and 51 steals, and swingman Joe Flanagan, who averages 13.0 points per game and has canned 31 three-pointers.
The Warriors are paced by Eric Anthony, who averages 15.3 points per contest, along with Will Kelly who averages 14.9 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game.
In the other semifinal game, second-seeded Albright hosts third-seeded Messiah College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The winners of Wednesday's games will meet Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed for the Commonwealth Conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
From the Lycoming College Website:
Men's basketball to host Elizabethtown in Commonwealth semifinals
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Lycoming College men’s basketball team will host Elizabethtown College in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Lamade Gymnasium. The Warriors (20-5, 10-4) earned the No. 1 seed after defeating Widener University 76-74 on Saturday, Feb. 20.
Ticket prices have been set by the Middle Atlantic Conferences’ office and are $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $2 for students. Children under 6 will be admitted free of charge.
The Lycoming sports information department will be running a live statistical feed. Please click here.
ESPNWilliamsport 104.1 FM and 1050 AM will have a live radio feed for the game. Please click here.
Lycoming is led by senior guard Eric Anthony, who averages 15.3 points per game, and was named the Warrior of the Week for Feb. 22, following an outstanding three-game week in which he averaged 18.3 points. Freshman guard Jerald Williams has tallied 79 steals and his 139 assists rank third all-time for a single-season at Lycoming.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Church has helped keep the Blue Jays together
From The Lancaster Newspaper Website:
Former Solanco standout leads E-town into playoffs
Intelligencer JournalLancaster New Era
Feb 22, 2010 00:01 EST
Elizabethtown
By GORDIE JONES, Correspondent
Mike Church is not big on reflecting. Not on his basketball career at Elizabethtown College, which has been a good one and could end as soon as Wednesday. Not on his individual achievements, which are considerable.
There will be time enough for that later, he believes.
But in another sense it is well past time to consider how this season has reflected on the senior center from Solanco. Which is to say, quite well. More than anyone else he has held things together for a Blue Jays team that has had its ups and downs -- and one that despite everything made the Commonwealth Conference playoffs as the fourth seed. The Jays (16-8) face No. 1 Lycoming (20-5) in a semifinal Wednesday night in Williamsport.
He has done so with his production. And he has done so because he is, in the words of teammate Bryan Harrity, "a natural born leader."
"He's one of those guys who takes you to another level personally," said Harrity, a junior center. "When he's into it, you're into it."
And as far as anyone can tell, there has never been a time this season when that has not been the case. Church has been fully engaged from the get-go, his focus never wavering.
It is not always so with seniors, E-town coach Bob Schlosser said. They have a lot on their minds at this point in their lives, between graduation, job searches and everything else.
"We've had a lot of seniors do it the right way," Schlosser said. "Unfortunately some guys when they're getting ready to graduate, their focus changes. Their priorities change. They don't play with the urgency you'd hope. Mike's the epitome of the opposite of that."
The 6-4 Church was a solid high school player, a guy who while playing for the Mules "just outjumped people," as Schlosser recalled. He added some polish early in his college career - not to mention 20 pounds - and has improved upon his most significant numbers every season; his averages this year are 15 points, 8.9 rebounds and just over two blocks a game.
And more than that, he has developed into a guy who wants to set the tone for everyone else.
"It feels good to be able to have these guys lean on me so much," he said after the Jays beat Arcadia 81-69 in Saturday afternoon's regular-season finale. "I like taking a leadership role."
He had been held out of the game because of an ankle sprain - more as a precaution - but was honored beforehand with the other three seniors, including Hempfield's Josh Houseal. All of them were given framed jerseys, along with a hearty ovation.
No one deserved it more than Church - who, by the way, expects to play Wednesday.
"It feels good to get there and have a chance to do something special," he said. "It would have (stunk) not to make the playoffs senior year."
But it has been, he said, "a crazy ride." The Jays dropped their first conference game, won the next three, lost two, won two, lost one, won one, lost two, won two. Point guard Kyle McConnell missed time with a broken thumb. Houseal missed time because he suffered a pair of concussions. And after a last-second loss at Messiah on Feb. 3, Schlosser questioned his players' selflessness and maturity.
Church's play, in the meantime, never fluctuated. He has been credited with nine double-doubles to date, and at Widener on Feb. 13 he surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career; he had been unaware he was nearing that milestone until someone told him a week or two earlier.
"He's always the consistent one, and we're trying to match what he does," Harrity said.
He has also tried to clean up whatever messes he can. Others had to work themselves out. The day after that loss to Messiah, for instance, the Jays were scheduled to go bowling. It was an uneasy time, considering the nature of the loss and Schlosser's postgame remarks, which Church said were "tough to swallow."
"For me personally, it really hurt," he added.
They got together anyway.
"That was a tough thing to do, for all of us," Schlosser said. "You almost have to force yourself to do it."
Nobody said much for a long, long time. Then, Schlosser recalled, "something funky happened" on one of the lanes, and everybody laughed. It was, the coach said, the first time in 24 hours anybody had so much as cracked a smile.
While the mood lightened, it's not like the Jays took off from there; they are just 3-2 since.
They have, however, hung together. And for that they can thank Mike Church, as much as anyone else.
Former Solanco standout leads E-town into playoffs
Intelligencer JournalLancaster New Era
Feb 22, 2010 00:01 EST
Elizabethtown
By GORDIE JONES, Correspondent
Mike Church is not big on reflecting. Not on his basketball career at Elizabethtown College, which has been a good one and could end as soon as Wednesday. Not on his individual achievements, which are considerable.
There will be time enough for that later, he believes.
But in another sense it is well past time to consider how this season has reflected on the senior center from Solanco. Which is to say, quite well. More than anyone else he has held things together for a Blue Jays team that has had its ups and downs -- and one that despite everything made the Commonwealth Conference playoffs as the fourth seed. The Jays (16-8) face No. 1 Lycoming (20-5) in a semifinal Wednesday night in Williamsport.
He has done so with his production. And he has done so because he is, in the words of teammate Bryan Harrity, "a natural born leader."
"He's one of those guys who takes you to another level personally," said Harrity, a junior center. "When he's into it, you're into it."
And as far as anyone can tell, there has never been a time this season when that has not been the case. Church has been fully engaged from the get-go, his focus never wavering.
It is not always so with seniors, E-town coach Bob Schlosser said. They have a lot on their minds at this point in their lives, between graduation, job searches and everything else.
"We've had a lot of seniors do it the right way," Schlosser said. "Unfortunately some guys when they're getting ready to graduate, their focus changes. Their priorities change. They don't play with the urgency you'd hope. Mike's the epitome of the opposite of that."
The 6-4 Church was a solid high school player, a guy who while playing for the Mules "just outjumped people," as Schlosser recalled. He added some polish early in his college career - not to mention 20 pounds - and has improved upon his most significant numbers every season; his averages this year are 15 points, 8.9 rebounds and just over two blocks a game.
And more than that, he has developed into a guy who wants to set the tone for everyone else.
"It feels good to be able to have these guys lean on me so much," he said after the Jays beat Arcadia 81-69 in Saturday afternoon's regular-season finale. "I like taking a leadership role."
He had been held out of the game because of an ankle sprain - more as a precaution - but was honored beforehand with the other three seniors, including Hempfield's Josh Houseal. All of them were given framed jerseys, along with a hearty ovation.
No one deserved it more than Church - who, by the way, expects to play Wednesday.
"It feels good to get there and have a chance to do something special," he said. "It would have (stunk) not to make the playoffs senior year."
But it has been, he said, "a crazy ride." The Jays dropped their first conference game, won the next three, lost two, won two, lost one, won one, lost two, won two. Point guard Kyle McConnell missed time with a broken thumb. Houseal missed time because he suffered a pair of concussions. And after a last-second loss at Messiah on Feb. 3, Schlosser questioned his players' selflessness and maturity.
Church's play, in the meantime, never fluctuated. He has been credited with nine double-doubles to date, and at Widener on Feb. 13 he surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career; he had been unaware he was nearing that milestone until someone told him a week or two earlier.
"He's always the consistent one, and we're trying to match what he does," Harrity said.
He has also tried to clean up whatever messes he can. Others had to work themselves out. The day after that loss to Messiah, for instance, the Jays were scheduled to go bowling. It was an uneasy time, considering the nature of the loss and Schlosser's postgame remarks, which Church said were "tough to swallow."
"For me personally, it really hurt," he added.
They got together anyway.
"That was a tough thing to do, for all of us," Schlosser said. "You almost have to force yourself to do it."
Nobody said much for a long, long time. Then, Schlosser recalled, "something funky happened" on one of the lanes, and everybody laughed. It was, the coach said, the first time in 24 hours anybody had so much as cracked a smile.
While the mood lightened, it's not like the Jays took off from there; they are just 3-2 since.
They have, however, hung together. And for that they can thank Mike Church, as much as anyone else.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Blue Jays Secure 4th Seed in Playoffs With 81-69 Win Over Arcadia
From the E-town College Website:
Box score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Keith Fogel tied his career high with 25 points and Bryan Harrity set a career best for the second straight game with 23 points to lead Elizabethtown College to an 81-69 win over Arcadia University Saturday at Thompson Gymnasium, clinching a berth in next week's Commonwealth Conference men's basketball playoffs.
The Blue Jays (16-8 overall, 8-6 Commonwealth) are the tournament's fourth seed and will play at top-seeded Lycoming College (20-5, 10-4) Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., while second-seeded Albright College (19-5, 10-4) will host third-seeded Messiah College (16-8, 9-5) in Wednesday's other semifinal game. The winners will meet Saturday at the highest remaining seed for the Commonwealth Conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Fogel sank four three-pointers and went 9-for-10 from the foul line to match his career high of 25 points set against Arcadia on Jan. 24, 2009. Harrity, starting at center in place of Mike Church who was held out to rest an injury, went 10-for-12 from the field to surpass his previous high of 21 points set Thursday night against Lycoming.
As a team, the Blue Jays went 10-for-25 from three-point range and led from start to finish against the Knights (6-18 overall, 0-14 Commonwealth), which received a game-high 25 points from Khalief Trawick. Arcadia shot 50.8 percent (31-for-61) from the field but went just 1-for-7 from three-point range and finished 6-for-9 at the foul line while Elizabethtown hit 13-of-17 free throws.
Behind 16 points from Harrity and 10 from Fogel, the Blue Jays took a 36-25 lead to halftime. Despite shooting 41.2 percent from the field in the half, Elizabethtown led by as many as 18 points and turned 11 Arcadia turnovers into 14 points. Trawick led the Knights with nine points in the first half while Glen Gagnon added eight on 4-for-4 shooting.
In the second half, Elizabethtown led by as many as 17 points before Arcadia cut the deficit to nine at 71-62 with 2:51 remaining. The Blue Jays went 6-for-8 from the foul line in the final minute, including a 5-for-6 performance from Fogel, to secure the win.
Joe Flanagan also reached double figures for Elizabethtown with 12 points and grabbed five rebounds to share the team lead. Off the bench, Travis Mettler hustled his way to seven points, five rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes of action for the Blue Jays while Mark Vogel sank a pair of three-pointers and finished with six points.
Trawick was one of four players to score in double figures for Arcadia, as Gagnon went 6-for-6 from the field and finished with 15 points, Jose Ortiz added 13 points off the bench and Renard Smith tallied 10 points.
From The Lancaster Newspaper's Website:
Fogel, Harrity lead Blue Jays past Arcadia
E-town clinches playoff berth for the eighth time in 10 years.
Sunday News
Elizabethtown
By GORDIE JONES, Correspondent
Nobody was about to string any "Mission Accomplished" banners from one end of Thompson Gym to the other, but Elizabethtown did what it needed to do Saturday afternoon, beating Arcadia 81-69 in its regular-season finale to secure a Commonwealth Conference playoff berth.
Junior guard Keith Fogel scored 25 points to match his career high, and junior center Bryan Harrity — starting for the injured Mike Church — scored 23 to exceed his one-game-old career best by two, as the Jays (8-6 league, 16-8 overall) qualified for the postseason as the conference's fourth-place finisher.
They will face league champ Lycoming (10-4, 20-5) in a semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Williamsport. Second-place Albright (10-4, 19-5) meets third-place Messiah (9-5, 16-8) in the other semi, with the winners playing for the title (and an automatic berth in the Division III Tournament) next Saturday.
"The only thing better would be a home playoff," said Fogel, "but at this point, beggars can't be choosers."
It was Senior Day, and Church (Solanco) and forward Josh Houseal (Hempfield) were two of the four players honored beforehand. But Church, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, was held out with an ankle injury, and while Houseal started, he was limited to 12 minutes by a bad knee.
"It was the kind of day," coach Bob Schlosser said, "where we felt if we brought our energy, we'd be OK."
There were signs early on that that would be the case. A little over seven minutes into the game, Fogel poked the ball away from Alexis Alfonso, then sprinted after it and while diving out of bounds threw it off Alfonso's leg to give the Jays possession.
"That's kind of who we've always been," Fogel said. "A lot of people in the stands might be like, 'He's really hustling.' But we do that in practice every day."
Before long the E-town lead was 30-12. The last-place Knights (0-14, 6-18) cut that to 36-25 by halftime, at which point Harrity had 16 of his points, but Fogel notched 15 after the break to keep the visitors at bay.
Harrity, who shot 10-for-12 from the field, had also scored 21 points in Thursday's victory over Lycoming, and according to Schlosser, has given the team "a positive shot in the arm the second half of the season."
"He can finish around the basket with the best of them," Fogel said. "He gets it inside, and you can feel the confidence in him and the team. We know something good's about to happen."
All part of the growth process, Harrity said."
As a junior you kind of know what you're supposed to do," he said. "You know your role. You just kind of get into a rhythm and know what you're supposed to do, and what you're not supposed to do. You know your limitations."
And goodness knows he hears about them.
"We're not real excited about his defense," Schlosser said. "Neither is he."
"Trust me," Harrity said with a laugh, "he's told me."
Schlosser is excited about his team being in the playoffs for the eighth time in 10 years, and said he expects Church to be available Wednesday.
But he also knows that the mission is only starting now.
Notes: Fogel shot 6-for-12 from the field, 4-for-10 from 3-point range. ... The Jays were 10-for-25 from the arc in all, the Knights 1-for-7. ... Joe Flanagan (Lancaster Mennonite) scored 12 for E-town. ... Khalief Trawick paced Arcadia with 25.
Box score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Keith Fogel tied his career high with 25 points and Bryan Harrity set a career best for the second straight game with 23 points to lead Elizabethtown College to an 81-69 win over Arcadia University Saturday at Thompson Gymnasium, clinching a berth in next week's Commonwealth Conference men's basketball playoffs.
The Blue Jays (16-8 overall, 8-6 Commonwealth) are the tournament's fourth seed and will play at top-seeded Lycoming College (20-5, 10-4) Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., while second-seeded Albright College (19-5, 10-4) will host third-seeded Messiah College (16-8, 9-5) in Wednesday's other semifinal game. The winners will meet Saturday at the highest remaining seed for the Commonwealth Conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Fogel sank four three-pointers and went 9-for-10 from the foul line to match his career high of 25 points set against Arcadia on Jan. 24, 2009. Harrity, starting at center in place of Mike Church who was held out to rest an injury, went 10-for-12 from the field to surpass his previous high of 21 points set Thursday night against Lycoming.
As a team, the Blue Jays went 10-for-25 from three-point range and led from start to finish against the Knights (6-18 overall, 0-14 Commonwealth), which received a game-high 25 points from Khalief Trawick. Arcadia shot 50.8 percent (31-for-61) from the field but went just 1-for-7 from three-point range and finished 6-for-9 at the foul line while Elizabethtown hit 13-of-17 free throws.
Behind 16 points from Harrity and 10 from Fogel, the Blue Jays took a 36-25 lead to halftime. Despite shooting 41.2 percent from the field in the half, Elizabethtown led by as many as 18 points and turned 11 Arcadia turnovers into 14 points. Trawick led the Knights with nine points in the first half while Glen Gagnon added eight on 4-for-4 shooting.
In the second half, Elizabethtown led by as many as 17 points before Arcadia cut the deficit to nine at 71-62 with 2:51 remaining. The Blue Jays went 6-for-8 from the foul line in the final minute, including a 5-for-6 performance from Fogel, to secure the win.
Joe Flanagan also reached double figures for Elizabethtown with 12 points and grabbed five rebounds to share the team lead. Off the bench, Travis Mettler hustled his way to seven points, five rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes of action for the Blue Jays while Mark Vogel sank a pair of three-pointers and finished with six points.
Trawick was one of four players to score in double figures for Arcadia, as Gagnon went 6-for-6 from the field and finished with 15 points, Jose Ortiz added 13 points off the bench and Renard Smith tallied 10 points.
From The Lancaster Newspaper's Website:
Fogel, Harrity lead Blue Jays past Arcadia
E-town clinches playoff berth for the eighth time in 10 years.
Sunday News
Elizabethtown
By GORDIE JONES, Correspondent
Nobody was about to string any "Mission Accomplished" banners from one end of Thompson Gym to the other, but Elizabethtown did what it needed to do Saturday afternoon, beating Arcadia 81-69 in its regular-season finale to secure a Commonwealth Conference playoff berth.
Junior guard Keith Fogel scored 25 points to match his career high, and junior center Bryan Harrity — starting for the injured Mike Church — scored 23 to exceed his one-game-old career best by two, as the Jays (8-6 league, 16-8 overall) qualified for the postseason as the conference's fourth-place finisher.
They will face league champ Lycoming (10-4, 20-5) in a semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Williamsport. Second-place Albright (10-4, 19-5) meets third-place Messiah (9-5, 16-8) in the other semi, with the winners playing for the title (and an automatic berth in the Division III Tournament) next Saturday.
"The only thing better would be a home playoff," said Fogel, "but at this point, beggars can't be choosers."
It was Senior Day, and Church (Solanco) and forward Josh Houseal (Hempfield) were two of the four players honored beforehand. But Church, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, was held out with an ankle injury, and while Houseal started, he was limited to 12 minutes by a bad knee.
"It was the kind of day," coach Bob Schlosser said, "where we felt if we brought our energy, we'd be OK."
There were signs early on that that would be the case. A little over seven minutes into the game, Fogel poked the ball away from Alexis Alfonso, then sprinted after it and while diving out of bounds threw it off Alfonso's leg to give the Jays possession.
"That's kind of who we've always been," Fogel said. "A lot of people in the stands might be like, 'He's really hustling.' But we do that in practice every day."
Before long the E-town lead was 30-12. The last-place Knights (0-14, 6-18) cut that to 36-25 by halftime, at which point Harrity had 16 of his points, but Fogel notched 15 after the break to keep the visitors at bay.
Harrity, who shot 10-for-12 from the field, had also scored 21 points in Thursday's victory over Lycoming, and according to Schlosser, has given the team "a positive shot in the arm the second half of the season."
"He can finish around the basket with the best of them," Fogel said. "He gets it inside, and you can feel the confidence in him and the team. We know something good's about to happen."
All part of the growth process, Harrity said."
As a junior you kind of know what you're supposed to do," he said. "You know your role. You just kind of get into a rhythm and know what you're supposed to do, and what you're not supposed to do. You know your limitations."
And goodness knows he hears about them.
"We're not real excited about his defense," Schlosser said. "Neither is he."
"Trust me," Harrity said with a laugh, "he's told me."
Schlosser is excited about his team being in the playoffs for the eighth time in 10 years, and said he expects Church to be available Wednesday.
But he also knows that the mission is only starting now.
Notes: Fogel shot 6-for-12 from the field, 4-for-10 from 3-point range. ... The Jays were 10-for-25 from the arc in all, the Knights 1-for-7. ... Joe Flanagan (Lancaster Mennonite) scored 12 for E-town. ... Khalief Trawick paced Arcadia with 25.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Church Reaches 1,000 Points, But Blue Jays Fall 80-67 at Widener
From the E-town College Website:
Box score
CHESTER, Pa. --- Widener University placed five players in double figures and overcame a milestone performance by Elizabethtown College's Mike Church to earn an 80-67 victory in a key Commonwealth Conference men's basketball matchup Saturday at the Schwartz Center.
Church led all players with a season-high 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and became the 30th player in Elizabethtown program history to score 1,000 points on a foul shot with 14:08 left in the first half.
However, the Pride (12-11 overall, 5-7 Commonwealth) led 47-31 at halftime and withstood a second-half run by the Blue Jays (14-7 overall, 6-5 Commonwealth) to remain in the hunt for a Commonwealth Conference playoff berth.
With one week remaining in the regular season, Elizabethtown is in sole possession of the fourth and final playoff spot at 6-5, with Alvernia University trailing by a half-game at 6-6. Lebanon Valley College is a game back at 5-6, followed by Widener at 5-7. The Blue Jays play at Lebanon Valley Tuesday night before finishing the season at home with second-place Lycoming College (8-3) Thursday and Arcadia University (0-12) Saturday.
Onyi Ezeala led Widener with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jack Brennan added 15 points and six boards and Chris McDevitt chipped in with 12 points off the Pride bench. Bobby Edmunds tallied 11 points and a game-high eight assists for Widener, with Perry Wright joining McDevitt in double figures off the bench with 10 points in 19 minutes.
For the Blue Jays, Bryan Harrity torched his former teammates for a career-high 17 points in 19 minutes off the bench, while Keith Fogel netted 12 points and handed out seven assists. However, the Blue Jays finished the game at 40.7 percent (24-for-59) from the field while Widener shot 48.3 percent (29-for-60) overall and 7-for-14 from three-point range.
Church scored the Blue Jays' first 13 points as Elizabethtown trailed 16-13 with 12:18 left in the first half, but Widener used a 13-2 run to build a 29-17 lead midway through the half. The Blue Jays cut the margin to 31-24 on a jumper by Fogel with 6:21 left, but Widener answered with nine straight points to take a 40-24 lead just three minutes later.
The Pride led 47-31 at halftime after shooting 52.9 percent (18-for-34) from the field in the opening half. McDevitt went 3-for-3 from three-point range and led all players with 12 points in the first half, while Church tallied 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting for the Blue Jays and pulled 11 rebounds to secure his eighth double-double of the season.
In the second half, the Blue Jays opened with a 12-1 run to pull within 48-43 on a three-point play by Church with 16:27 left. Elizabethtown moved as close as four points twice, the latter with 10:02 left at 59-55 after two free throws by Joe Flanagan, but a quick 9-2 spurt by the Pride restored its double-figure advantage at 68-57 with 7:26 remaining.
From the Widener University Website:
Men's Basketball Pulls Away For 80-67 Win Over Elizabethtown
(box score)
Sophomore Onyi Ezeala (Piscataway, NJ) recorded his first double-double and keyed the decisive run for Widener in an 80-67 Commonwealth Conference victory over Elizabethtown at Schwartz Center.
Ezeala scored seven points during a 12-4 burst that gave Widener a 71-59 lead with 5:13 left. He ended the spurt on a fastbreak layup.
That was just a sampling of his phenomenal day in which he scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. This helped the Pride shoot 48 percent (29-of-60) from the field and 7-of-14 from 3-point range.
Sophomore Jack Brennan (Stratford, NJ) scored 15 points, junior Chris McDevitt (Doylestown, PA) netted 12, senior Bobby Edmunds (Linwood, NJ) had 11 and eight assists with sophomore Perry Wright (Severn, MD) adding 10 points for Widener (12-11, 5-7 CC).
Elizabethtown (14-7, 6-5) wasted a great effort by Mike Church, who ended with 25 points and 14 rebounds. He reached the 1,000-point plateau for his career in the first half, a stanza in which he had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Bryan Harrity scored 17 points off the bench and Keith Fogel added 12 for the Blue Jays.
Widener remains in contention to make the conference tournament, sitting 1 1/2 games behind Elizabethtown for the fourth and final spot. The teams split their two meetings.
Widener on Tuesday travels to Glenside, PA to face Arcadia, beginning at 8:00 pm.
From the Lancaster Newspapers Website:
Blue Jays fall despite big game from Church
Sunday News
Feb 14, 2010 00:13 EST
By STAFF
Widener placed five players in double figures and overcame a milestone performance by Elizabethtown's Mike Church to earn an 80-67 victory in a key Commonwealth Conference matchup.
Church, a Solanco grad, led all scorers with a season-high 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and became the 30th player in school history to score 1,000 career points — on a foul shot with 14:08 left in the first half.
But the Pride (12-11, 5-7 Commonwealth) withstood a second-half run by the Blue Jays (14-7, 6-5) to remain in the hunt for a conference playoff berth.
With one week remaining in the regular season, Elizabethtown is in sole possession of the fourth and final playoff spot at 6-5, with Alvernia trailing by a half-game at 6-6. Lebanon Valley is a game back at 5-6, followed by Widener at 5-7. The Blue Jays play at Lebanon Valley Tuesday night before finishing the season at home with second-place Lycoming (8-3) Thursday and Arcadia (0-12) Saturday.
For the Blue Jays, Bryan Harrity torched his former teammates for a career-high 17 points in 19 minutes off the bench, while Keith Fogel netted 12 points and handed out seven assists. But Elizabethtown finished the game shooting 40.7 percent (24-for-59) from the field, while Widener shot 48.3 percent (29-for-60), and drained 7 of 14 from beyond the arc.
Box score
CHESTER, Pa. --- Widener University placed five players in double figures and overcame a milestone performance by Elizabethtown College's Mike Church to earn an 80-67 victory in a key Commonwealth Conference men's basketball matchup Saturday at the Schwartz Center.
Church led all players with a season-high 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and became the 30th player in Elizabethtown program history to score 1,000 points on a foul shot with 14:08 left in the first half.
However, the Pride (12-11 overall, 5-7 Commonwealth) led 47-31 at halftime and withstood a second-half run by the Blue Jays (14-7 overall, 6-5 Commonwealth) to remain in the hunt for a Commonwealth Conference playoff berth.
With one week remaining in the regular season, Elizabethtown is in sole possession of the fourth and final playoff spot at 6-5, with Alvernia University trailing by a half-game at 6-6. Lebanon Valley College is a game back at 5-6, followed by Widener at 5-7. The Blue Jays play at Lebanon Valley Tuesday night before finishing the season at home with second-place Lycoming College (8-3) Thursday and Arcadia University (0-12) Saturday.
Onyi Ezeala led Widener with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jack Brennan added 15 points and six boards and Chris McDevitt chipped in with 12 points off the Pride bench. Bobby Edmunds tallied 11 points and a game-high eight assists for Widener, with Perry Wright joining McDevitt in double figures off the bench with 10 points in 19 minutes.
For the Blue Jays, Bryan Harrity torched his former teammates for a career-high 17 points in 19 minutes off the bench, while Keith Fogel netted 12 points and handed out seven assists. However, the Blue Jays finished the game at 40.7 percent (24-for-59) from the field while Widener shot 48.3 percent (29-for-60) overall and 7-for-14 from three-point range.
Church scored the Blue Jays' first 13 points as Elizabethtown trailed 16-13 with 12:18 left in the first half, but Widener used a 13-2 run to build a 29-17 lead midway through the half. The Blue Jays cut the margin to 31-24 on a jumper by Fogel with 6:21 left, but Widener answered with nine straight points to take a 40-24 lead just three minutes later.
The Pride led 47-31 at halftime after shooting 52.9 percent (18-for-34) from the field in the opening half. McDevitt went 3-for-3 from three-point range and led all players with 12 points in the first half, while Church tallied 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting for the Blue Jays and pulled 11 rebounds to secure his eighth double-double of the season.
In the second half, the Blue Jays opened with a 12-1 run to pull within 48-43 on a three-point play by Church with 16:27 left. Elizabethtown moved as close as four points twice, the latter with 10:02 left at 59-55 after two free throws by Joe Flanagan, but a quick 9-2 spurt by the Pride restored its double-figure advantage at 68-57 with 7:26 remaining.
From the Widener University Website:
Men's Basketball Pulls Away For 80-67 Win Over Elizabethtown
(box score)
Sophomore Onyi Ezeala (Piscataway, NJ) recorded his first double-double and keyed the decisive run for Widener in an 80-67 Commonwealth Conference victory over Elizabethtown at Schwartz Center.
Ezeala scored seven points during a 12-4 burst that gave Widener a 71-59 lead with 5:13 left. He ended the spurt on a fastbreak layup.
That was just a sampling of his phenomenal day in which he scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. This helped the Pride shoot 48 percent (29-of-60) from the field and 7-of-14 from 3-point range.
Sophomore Jack Brennan (Stratford, NJ) scored 15 points, junior Chris McDevitt (Doylestown, PA) netted 12, senior Bobby Edmunds (Linwood, NJ) had 11 and eight assists with sophomore Perry Wright (Severn, MD) adding 10 points for Widener (12-11, 5-7 CC).
Elizabethtown (14-7, 6-5) wasted a great effort by Mike Church, who ended with 25 points and 14 rebounds. He reached the 1,000-point plateau for his career in the first half, a stanza in which he had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Bryan Harrity scored 17 points off the bench and Keith Fogel added 12 for the Blue Jays.
Widener remains in contention to make the conference tournament, sitting 1 1/2 games behind Elizabethtown for the fourth and final spot. The teams split their two meetings.
Widener on Tuesday travels to Glenside, PA to face Arcadia, beginning at 8:00 pm.
From the Lancaster Newspapers Website:
Blue Jays fall despite big game from Church
Sunday News
Feb 14, 2010 00:13 EST
By STAFF
Widener placed five players in double figures and overcame a milestone performance by Elizabethtown's Mike Church to earn an 80-67 victory in a key Commonwealth Conference matchup.
Church, a Solanco grad, led all scorers with a season-high 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and became the 30th player in school history to score 1,000 career points — on a foul shot with 14:08 left in the first half.
But the Pride (12-11, 5-7 Commonwealth) withstood a second-half run by the Blue Jays (14-7, 6-5) to remain in the hunt for a conference playoff berth.
With one week remaining in the regular season, Elizabethtown is in sole possession of the fourth and final playoff spot at 6-5, with Alvernia trailing by a half-game at 6-6. Lebanon Valley is a game back at 5-6, followed by Widener at 5-7. The Blue Jays play at Lebanon Valley Tuesday night before finishing the season at home with second-place Lycoming (8-3) Thursday and Arcadia (0-12) Saturday.
For the Blue Jays, Bryan Harrity torched his former teammates for a career-high 17 points in 19 minutes off the bench, while Keith Fogel netted 12 points and handed out seven assists. But Elizabethtown finished the game shooting 40.7 percent (24-for-59) from the field, while Widener shot 48.3 percent (29-for-60), and drained 7 of 14 from beyond the arc.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Falcons Stun Blue Jays on Late Three, 61-60
From the E-town College Website:
Box score
GRANTHAM, Pa. --- Tyler Ritzman hit an off-balance three-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining as Messiah College rallied for a 61-60 victory over Elizabethtown College in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action Wednesday night at Brubaker Auditorium.
Ritzman's game-winning basket accounted for his only points of the game and the only scoring off the bench all night for the Falcons (12-7 overall, 5-4 Commonwealth), who climbed back into a three-way tie for third place in the conference with the Blue Jays (13-6 overall, 5-4 Commonwealth) and Alvernia University.
Mike Church led Elizabethtown with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Keith Fogel added 14 points and Joe Flanagan contributed 12. Jamie Yoder paced Messiah with a game-high 20 points, while Kyle Snyder registered a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Falcons trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and faced a 58-52 deficit following two foul shots by Church with 2:09 left. Yoder cut the margin in half with a three-pointer with 1:38 to go, and Josh Hartman followed with another three with 56 seconds to go to knot the score at 58-58.
The Blue Jays inched ahead by two on foul shots by Church with 45 seconds left and Flanagan with 15 seconds to go, but the Falcons answered for the win as Ritzman picked up a fumbled pass and dropped home the winning shot with 1.2 seconds to play. As a team, Messiah was 5-for-17 from three-point range until connecting on each of its final three attempts from beyond the arc.
The first half featured seven lead changes in the first nine minutes before the Blue Jays jumped ahead 22-14 on a three-pointer by Fogel with 7:17 left in the half. The Blue Jays led by as many as 11 points on two occasions, and went to intermission on top 34-26 as Church led the way with 12 points and five rebounds.
Messiah quickly carved the lead down to a single point at 38-37 with 16:29 to go following a basket by Colton Reitz, and went ahead 41-40 on a three-pointer by Hartman with 14:22 left. With the score tied 45-45 at the 11:44 mark, the Blue Jays reeled off six straight points on a three-point play by Chris Jones and a three-point basket by Fogel to go on top 51-45 with 10:43 remaining. From there, the Blue Jays held a two-possession lead until Yoder's three-pointer brought the Falcons within 58-55 at the 1:38 mark.
Hartman and Chris Yoder each scored nine points for the Falcons while Reitz added eight points and four rebounds. Jones finished with six points and three rebounds in 15 minutes for the Blue Jays, who shot 38.8 percent (19-for-49) overall from the field and 16-for-25 from the foul line.
From the Messiah College Website:
Ritzman Dials Deep For Emotional Win Over Elizabethtown, 61-60
Posted: 2/3/2010
Box Score
Grantham, PA — Junior Tyler Ritzman made one basket Wednesday night.
It may have been the biggest of his life.
The 6-2 guard buried a 22-foot three pointer with just 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation, helping Messiah knock off arch rival Elizabethtown College by a 61-60 score — all in front of a chaotic house of 1,872 frenzied spectators.
Many of those rushed the floor following the Blue Jays’ ensuing inbounds pass, an act that was broken up by seniors Jamie Yoder and Kyle Snyder as the final horn sounded.
“It was quite a scene,” Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt said of the mad mobbing afterward.
“This couldn’t have happened to a better group of guys. I’m happy for them.”
Happy may not have described Van Pelt’s mood just moments before Ritzman’s cash in, as Messiah (12-7, 5-4) struggled mightily to get on top of E’Town — a squad that led the majority of Wednesday’s clash. After a three-pointer from junior Josh Hartman gave the Falcons a 41-40 lead with 14:22 to play in the contest, Elizabethtown (13-6, 5-4) went on an 11-6 run, taking a 51-45 lead with 10:43 to play.
Messiah wouldn’t sniff a tie score until under a minute remained, as back-to-back threes from Yoder and Hartman turned a 58-52 E’Town lead into a 58-58 deadlock — also turning Brubaker Auditorium into a virtual insane asylum.
As Messiah’s student section went berserk, so did the free throw shooting abilities of the Blue Jays: E’Town’s Mike Church made just one of two and, following a miss from Hartman on Messiah’s next possession, the Blue Jays’ Joe Flanagan did the same.
The result was only a 60-58 lead for E’Town with 15 seconds to play.
Following a rebound from Kyle Snyder on Flanagan’s miss, Van Pelt called a timeout.
“(The ball) ended up in the exact spot we wanted it,” Van Pelt would later say of the play that led to Ritzman’s dagger. “It wasn’t pretty, but the play was run exactly the way it was designed. (Tyler) didn’t have a very clean catch, so it wasn’t a pure jump shot.”
He paused.
“But shooting the basketball is what Tyler Ritzman is good at.”
Yoder inbounded the ball to freshman Chris Yoder from near the midcourt line following the timeout, a pass that an extending E’Town defense forced into the backcourt.
Chris Yoder then got control and appeared to look for Jamie Yoder on the right side, but the Blue Jays’ switching defense took that option away. Instead, he swung the ball to Ritzman on the left wing, as the clock ticked under five seconds.
Ritzman bobbled the pass at first, but then collected the ball, using a swift left-to-right cross over dribble to free himself up for a deep — and contested — three ball.
His shot came directly in front of the Messiah bench, and Van Pelt was directly behind him.
“It looked dead on, but all of Tyler’s shots are dead on,” Van Pelt said. “If he misses, it’s never to the left or right. He’s always on target. If he’s going to miss, it’s going to be short or long.”
Ritzman’s attempt was neither.
The ball splashed through the net with just 1.2 seconds on the clock — a precise moment that produced ear-piercing decibel levels inside Brubaker Auditorium.
It was Ritzman’s first basket of the game, in only his second attempt, after playing just 10 minutes.
Up to that point, Ritzman’s stat line read 0-1 from the field, four fouls and two turnovers.
“Tyler is a pure shooter,” Van Pelt said, dismissing the fact that the Millerstown, Pa. native may not have been ‘feeling it’ on this particular evening. “He’s as good of a shooter as we’ve ever had in our program, and we’ve had some good ones. I mean, in a way, I’m not sure there are any nerves in a shot like that. You either make it or you don’t. It’s not like it’s a free throw, where you have a lot of time to think about it.”
Ritzman’s jumper was a thing of beauty, as Elizabethtown could only call timeout in an effort to set up some type of last-ditch, full-court hook-up for a second miracle.
The Blue Jays succeeded in getting a 90-foot baseball pass to Mike Church, but he caught the ball with his momentum going away from the basket, and could only flip the ball over his head as time expired.
The ensuing scene was one of chaos, as Messiah students rushed the floor, engulfing Ritzman in a sea of white shirts and rally towels.
“It’s kind of funny, but we had a team devotional this week, and we talked about The Book of Esther, and how God placed Esther in the palace for such a time as this,” Van Pelt said, putting emphasis on the main point of the passage. “I guess that tonight was Tyler Ritzman’s time.”
It nearly was not Messiah’s. E’Town opened up an eight-point lead midway through the first half and extended it to 11 points late, a difference that was trimmed to a 34-26 margin at halftime behind a late three pointer from Chris Yoder.
Still, the Blue Jays withstood every Falcons’ push until the bitter end, turning a pair of one-point Messiah leads back to six-point advantages of their own on four different occasions in the second half.
Van Pelt said the difference was in Messiah’s ability to control the glass and limit turnovers in the second period, as the Falcons committed 10 of their 16 giveaways in the first 20 minutes — allowing seven of E’Town’s 10 offensive rebounds during that time as well.
“The first half, they killed us on the boards, they got out in transition and we turned the ball over,” he said. “In the second half, we gave up just three offensive rebounds and turned it over only six times. That limited what they were able to do in transition. It was a tale of two halves, very similar to our first game (this year) at their place. Tonight, we did to them what they were able to do to us.”
E’Town roared back from a 16-point second-half deficit to claim a 69-64 overtime win at Thompson Gymnasium on Dec. 5, a game that sparked a seven-game winning streak for the Blue Jays.
Wednesday night, however, it was Messiah’s turn to end a pair of streaks, snapping a two-game winning push from E’Town while snipping a two-game losing skid of its own.
“We talked to our guys before the game,” Van Pelt said. “If tonight’s game was a beauty contest, toughness would be a category. E’Town plays so hard, they play so tough, they fly around, going to the boards … we needed to win the judges’ scores in the toughness department. I thought we showed just enough.”
Jamie Yoder led all scorers on the evening, finishing with 20 points on five of 12 shooting, going eight for 10 from the charity stripe. Snyder finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds — his fourth double-double of the season — while Hartman and Chris Yoder each finished with nine.
Perhaps the most goosebump-inducing stat — for Messiah fans, anyway — was Ritzman’s line: A meager three points on one of two shooting from the floor.
It was not Ritzman’s first brush with last-second greatness, however, as he canned a baseline jumper with .01 remaining to give the Falcons a 57-55 win over Williamson Trade School in the Messiah/Hampton Inn Invitational back on Dec. 12.
Wednesday’s opponent was not Williamson Trade, and the game certainly had more meaning than an early-season weekend tournament.
With the latest win, Messiah helped create a three-way tie for third in the Commonwealth Conference standings, with second and first place sitting just a game and two away, respectively.
“It’s the same every year,” Van Pelt said of the league standings. “It’s a jumbled, bumbled mess. You can’t really worry about it.”
What Van Pelt and company will worry about next is Alvernia University, as the Falcons will visit the first-year Commonwealth member Saturday afternoon in Reading, Pa. The Crusaders are among those tied with a 5-4 league record, making Saturday’s 3 p.m. tilt yet another high-implication battle.
Not that the Falcons will go to bed tonight thinking about that.
“This was a good one for the guys,” Van Pelt said. “We kind of hit a wall this past week, with the whole Penn State-York game, at Widener Saturday. It happens to a lot of teams. Our guys hadn’t had as much fun over the past week as they’d have liked to. This will get us excited about coming back to practice. It keeps us in the hunt. That’s always exciting.”
From the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era:
Blue Jays shot down by last-second 3-pointer
Elizabethtown falls into fourth with 61-60 loss
Intelligencer JournalLancaster New Era
Feb 04, 2010 00:27 EST
By GORDIE JONES, Correspondent
Shoulders slumped, Elizabethtown coach Bob Schlosser emerged from the visiting locker room in the basement of Messiah's Brubaker Auditorium late Wednesday night.
"Let's go out here," he told a visitor.
And then he walked out a door and into a stairwell, which seemed as good a place as any to ride out the disaster that had just befallen his team.
Falcons reserve guard Tyler Ritzman scored his only basket of the game with 1.2 seconds left — a 3-pointer from deep on the left wing — as Messiah beat the Blue Jays 61-60 in a Commonwealth Conference game.
The result, which provoked Messiah's fans to storm the court, dropped E-town (5-4 league, 13-6 overall) into a fourth-place tie with the Falcons (5-4, 12-7) and Alvernia (5-4, 14-6) — an 82-75 overtime winner over last-place Arcadia Wednesday. Five games remain in the regular season.
Four teams make the league playoffs.
"They just wanted it more than we did," Schlosser said. "That's very disappointing. Now we play the two toughest teams in the conference (Albright and Lycoming). If we play this way, we may not win another game."
The Jays had exactly one field goal in the game's final 10:48, and shot 7-for-20 while being outscored 35-26 in the second half. Still, they led 58-52 with 2:12 to play, after Mike Church (19 points) converted both ends of a 1-and-1.
But then Lancaster Mennonite grad Jamie Yoder nailed a triple with 1:44 left, and teammate Josh Hartman did the same with 59.2 seconds remaining, after two missed free throws by Brian Allport; the Jays clanked five foul shots in the final 4:13.
Church made one with 47.5 seconds left, and Joe Flanagan dropped in another with 17.2 seconds showing, giving E-town a 60-58 advantage.
During a timeout with 10 seconds to play, Messiah coach Rick Van Pelt designed a play for Ritzman. The 6-feet-2 junior had only taken one other shot, which he missed, in 10 foul-plagued minutes. But he came in averaging 7.9 points off the bench, and he had sunk a game-winner against Williamson Trade on Dec. 12.
This time he popped open and teammate Chris Yoder fed him. Ritzman fumbled the ball momentarily, but regained possession and connected over Keith Fogel.
"It was a pretty bad night for me up to that point," Ritzman said. "But I still had a lot of confidence I could make the shot. When Coach draws up plays for you, it gives you confidence.
It's a life lesson: When things get rough, you've got to have faith."
It was a worse night for Schlosser, who saw his team's last-ditch play — Josh Houseal's court-
length inbounds pass to Church — end with Church unable to squeeze off a shot.
"I didn't think we were a team tonight," Schlosser said. "We played as a bunch of individuals.
Every week and a half or two they regress and need a wakeup call. Unfortunately, because it's a wakeup call, that can cost you in the league standings.
"I guess they're immature. As coaches, as adults, you have a hard time accepting that. But when you come right down to it, I guess they're immature."
Box score
GRANTHAM, Pa. --- Tyler Ritzman hit an off-balance three-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining as Messiah College rallied for a 61-60 victory over Elizabethtown College in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action Wednesday night at Brubaker Auditorium.
Ritzman's game-winning basket accounted for his only points of the game and the only scoring off the bench all night for the Falcons (12-7 overall, 5-4 Commonwealth), who climbed back into a three-way tie for third place in the conference with the Blue Jays (13-6 overall, 5-4 Commonwealth) and Alvernia University.
Mike Church led Elizabethtown with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Keith Fogel added 14 points and Joe Flanagan contributed 12. Jamie Yoder paced Messiah with a game-high 20 points, while Kyle Snyder registered a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Falcons trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and faced a 58-52 deficit following two foul shots by Church with 2:09 left. Yoder cut the margin in half with a three-pointer with 1:38 to go, and Josh Hartman followed with another three with 56 seconds to go to knot the score at 58-58.
The Blue Jays inched ahead by two on foul shots by Church with 45 seconds left and Flanagan with 15 seconds to go, but the Falcons answered for the win as Ritzman picked up a fumbled pass and dropped home the winning shot with 1.2 seconds to play. As a team, Messiah was 5-for-17 from three-point range until connecting on each of its final three attempts from beyond the arc.
The first half featured seven lead changes in the first nine minutes before the Blue Jays jumped ahead 22-14 on a three-pointer by Fogel with 7:17 left in the half. The Blue Jays led by as many as 11 points on two occasions, and went to intermission on top 34-26 as Church led the way with 12 points and five rebounds.
Messiah quickly carved the lead down to a single point at 38-37 with 16:29 to go following a basket by Colton Reitz, and went ahead 41-40 on a three-pointer by Hartman with 14:22 left. With the score tied 45-45 at the 11:44 mark, the Blue Jays reeled off six straight points on a three-point play by Chris Jones and a three-point basket by Fogel to go on top 51-45 with 10:43 remaining. From there, the Blue Jays held a two-possession lead until Yoder's three-pointer brought the Falcons within 58-55 at the 1:38 mark.
Hartman and Chris Yoder each scored nine points for the Falcons while Reitz added eight points and four rebounds. Jones finished with six points and three rebounds in 15 minutes for the Blue Jays, who shot 38.8 percent (19-for-49) overall from the field and 16-for-25 from the foul line.
From the Messiah College Website:
Ritzman Dials Deep For Emotional Win Over Elizabethtown, 61-60
Posted: 2/3/2010
Box Score
Grantham, PA — Junior Tyler Ritzman made one basket Wednesday night.
It may have been the biggest of his life.
The 6-2 guard buried a 22-foot three pointer with just 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation, helping Messiah knock off arch rival Elizabethtown College by a 61-60 score — all in front of a chaotic house of 1,872 frenzied spectators.
Many of those rushed the floor following the Blue Jays’ ensuing inbounds pass, an act that was broken up by seniors Jamie Yoder and Kyle Snyder as the final horn sounded.
“It was quite a scene,” Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt said of the mad mobbing afterward.
“This couldn’t have happened to a better group of guys. I’m happy for them.”
Happy may not have described Van Pelt’s mood just moments before Ritzman’s cash in, as Messiah (12-7, 5-4) struggled mightily to get on top of E’Town — a squad that led the majority of Wednesday’s clash. After a three-pointer from junior Josh Hartman gave the Falcons a 41-40 lead with 14:22 to play in the contest, Elizabethtown (13-6, 5-4) went on an 11-6 run, taking a 51-45 lead with 10:43 to play.
Messiah wouldn’t sniff a tie score until under a minute remained, as back-to-back threes from Yoder and Hartman turned a 58-52 E’Town lead into a 58-58 deadlock — also turning Brubaker Auditorium into a virtual insane asylum.
As Messiah’s student section went berserk, so did the free throw shooting abilities of the Blue Jays: E’Town’s Mike Church made just one of two and, following a miss from Hartman on Messiah’s next possession, the Blue Jays’ Joe Flanagan did the same.
The result was only a 60-58 lead for E’Town with 15 seconds to play.
Following a rebound from Kyle Snyder on Flanagan’s miss, Van Pelt called a timeout.
“(The ball) ended up in the exact spot we wanted it,” Van Pelt would later say of the play that led to Ritzman’s dagger. “It wasn’t pretty, but the play was run exactly the way it was designed. (Tyler) didn’t have a very clean catch, so it wasn’t a pure jump shot.”
He paused.
“But shooting the basketball is what Tyler Ritzman is good at.”
Yoder inbounded the ball to freshman Chris Yoder from near the midcourt line following the timeout, a pass that an extending E’Town defense forced into the backcourt.
Chris Yoder then got control and appeared to look for Jamie Yoder on the right side, but the Blue Jays’ switching defense took that option away. Instead, he swung the ball to Ritzman on the left wing, as the clock ticked under five seconds.
Ritzman bobbled the pass at first, but then collected the ball, using a swift left-to-right cross over dribble to free himself up for a deep — and contested — three ball.
His shot came directly in front of the Messiah bench, and Van Pelt was directly behind him.
“It looked dead on, but all of Tyler’s shots are dead on,” Van Pelt said. “If he misses, it’s never to the left or right. He’s always on target. If he’s going to miss, it’s going to be short or long.”
Ritzman’s attempt was neither.
The ball splashed through the net with just 1.2 seconds on the clock — a precise moment that produced ear-piercing decibel levels inside Brubaker Auditorium.
It was Ritzman’s first basket of the game, in only his second attempt, after playing just 10 minutes.
Up to that point, Ritzman’s stat line read 0-1 from the field, four fouls and two turnovers.
“Tyler is a pure shooter,” Van Pelt said, dismissing the fact that the Millerstown, Pa. native may not have been ‘feeling it’ on this particular evening. “He’s as good of a shooter as we’ve ever had in our program, and we’ve had some good ones. I mean, in a way, I’m not sure there are any nerves in a shot like that. You either make it or you don’t. It’s not like it’s a free throw, where you have a lot of time to think about it.”
Ritzman’s jumper was a thing of beauty, as Elizabethtown could only call timeout in an effort to set up some type of last-ditch, full-court hook-up for a second miracle.
The Blue Jays succeeded in getting a 90-foot baseball pass to Mike Church, but he caught the ball with his momentum going away from the basket, and could only flip the ball over his head as time expired.
The ensuing scene was one of chaos, as Messiah students rushed the floor, engulfing Ritzman in a sea of white shirts and rally towels.
“It’s kind of funny, but we had a team devotional this week, and we talked about The Book of Esther, and how God placed Esther in the palace for such a time as this,” Van Pelt said, putting emphasis on the main point of the passage. “I guess that tonight was Tyler Ritzman’s time.”
It nearly was not Messiah’s. E’Town opened up an eight-point lead midway through the first half and extended it to 11 points late, a difference that was trimmed to a 34-26 margin at halftime behind a late three pointer from Chris Yoder.
Still, the Blue Jays withstood every Falcons’ push until the bitter end, turning a pair of one-point Messiah leads back to six-point advantages of their own on four different occasions in the second half.
Van Pelt said the difference was in Messiah’s ability to control the glass and limit turnovers in the second period, as the Falcons committed 10 of their 16 giveaways in the first 20 minutes — allowing seven of E’Town’s 10 offensive rebounds during that time as well.
“The first half, they killed us on the boards, they got out in transition and we turned the ball over,” he said. “In the second half, we gave up just three offensive rebounds and turned it over only six times. That limited what they were able to do in transition. It was a tale of two halves, very similar to our first game (this year) at their place. Tonight, we did to them what they were able to do to us.”
E’Town roared back from a 16-point second-half deficit to claim a 69-64 overtime win at Thompson Gymnasium on Dec. 5, a game that sparked a seven-game winning streak for the Blue Jays.
Wednesday night, however, it was Messiah’s turn to end a pair of streaks, snapping a two-game winning push from E’Town while snipping a two-game losing skid of its own.
“We talked to our guys before the game,” Van Pelt said. “If tonight’s game was a beauty contest, toughness would be a category. E’Town plays so hard, they play so tough, they fly around, going to the boards … we needed to win the judges’ scores in the toughness department. I thought we showed just enough.”
Jamie Yoder led all scorers on the evening, finishing with 20 points on five of 12 shooting, going eight for 10 from the charity stripe. Snyder finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds — his fourth double-double of the season — while Hartman and Chris Yoder each finished with nine.
Perhaps the most goosebump-inducing stat — for Messiah fans, anyway — was Ritzman’s line: A meager three points on one of two shooting from the floor.
It was not Ritzman’s first brush with last-second greatness, however, as he canned a baseline jumper with .01 remaining to give the Falcons a 57-55 win over Williamson Trade School in the Messiah/Hampton Inn Invitational back on Dec. 12.
Wednesday’s opponent was not Williamson Trade, and the game certainly had more meaning than an early-season weekend tournament.
With the latest win, Messiah helped create a three-way tie for third in the Commonwealth Conference standings, with second and first place sitting just a game and two away, respectively.
“It’s the same every year,” Van Pelt said of the league standings. “It’s a jumbled, bumbled mess. You can’t really worry about it.”
What Van Pelt and company will worry about next is Alvernia University, as the Falcons will visit the first-year Commonwealth member Saturday afternoon in Reading, Pa. The Crusaders are among those tied with a 5-4 league record, making Saturday’s 3 p.m. tilt yet another high-implication battle.
Not that the Falcons will go to bed tonight thinking about that.
“This was a good one for the guys,” Van Pelt said. “We kind of hit a wall this past week, with the whole Penn State-York game, at Widener Saturday. It happens to a lot of teams. Our guys hadn’t had as much fun over the past week as they’d have liked to. This will get us excited about coming back to practice. It keeps us in the hunt. That’s always exciting.”
From the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era:
Blue Jays shot down by last-second 3-pointer
Elizabethtown falls into fourth with 61-60 loss
Intelligencer JournalLancaster New Era
Feb 04, 2010 00:27 EST
By GORDIE JONES, Correspondent
Shoulders slumped, Elizabethtown coach Bob Schlosser emerged from the visiting locker room in the basement of Messiah's Brubaker Auditorium late Wednesday night.
"Let's go out here," he told a visitor.
And then he walked out a door and into a stairwell, which seemed as good a place as any to ride out the disaster that had just befallen his team.
Falcons reserve guard Tyler Ritzman scored his only basket of the game with 1.2 seconds left — a 3-pointer from deep on the left wing — as Messiah beat the Blue Jays 61-60 in a Commonwealth Conference game.
The result, which provoked Messiah's fans to storm the court, dropped E-town (5-4 league, 13-6 overall) into a fourth-place tie with the Falcons (5-4, 12-7) and Alvernia (5-4, 14-6) — an 82-75 overtime winner over last-place Arcadia Wednesday. Five games remain in the regular season.
Four teams make the league playoffs.
"They just wanted it more than we did," Schlosser said. "That's very disappointing. Now we play the two toughest teams in the conference (Albright and Lycoming). If we play this way, we may not win another game."
The Jays had exactly one field goal in the game's final 10:48, and shot 7-for-20 while being outscored 35-26 in the second half. Still, they led 58-52 with 2:12 to play, after Mike Church (19 points) converted both ends of a 1-and-1.
But then Lancaster Mennonite grad Jamie Yoder nailed a triple with 1:44 left, and teammate Josh Hartman did the same with 59.2 seconds remaining, after two missed free throws by Brian Allport; the Jays clanked five foul shots in the final 4:13.
Church made one with 47.5 seconds left, and Joe Flanagan dropped in another with 17.2 seconds showing, giving E-town a 60-58 advantage.
During a timeout with 10 seconds to play, Messiah coach Rick Van Pelt designed a play for Ritzman. The 6-feet-2 junior had only taken one other shot, which he missed, in 10 foul-plagued minutes. But he came in averaging 7.9 points off the bench, and he had sunk a game-winner against Williamson Trade on Dec. 12.
This time he popped open and teammate Chris Yoder fed him. Ritzman fumbled the ball momentarily, but regained possession and connected over Keith Fogel.
"It was a pretty bad night for me up to that point," Ritzman said. "But I still had a lot of confidence I could make the shot. When Coach draws up plays for you, it gives you confidence.
It's a life lesson: When things get rough, you've got to have faith."
It was a worse night for Schlosser, who saw his team's last-ditch play — Josh Houseal's court-
length inbounds pass to Church — end with Church unable to squeeze off a shot.
"I didn't think we were a team tonight," Schlosser said. "We played as a bunch of individuals.
Every week and a half or two they regress and need a wakeup call. Unfortunately, because it's a wakeup call, that can cost you in the league standings.
"I guess they're immature. As coaches, as adults, you have a hard time accepting that. But when you come right down to it, I guess they're immature."
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Catching Up!
I fell behind on the blog due to the new job. The following posts are from the victory over LVC and the loss at Albright. Hopefully, I can stay on it from here on out (that's what she said!)
From the E-town College Website:
Blue Jays Work Overtime for Seventh Straight Win, Down LVC 74-66
1/13/2010 10:15:36 PM
Box score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Mike Church scored a season-high 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Elizabethtown College overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Lebanon Valley College 74-66 in overtime in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action on Wednesday night at Thompson Gymnasium.
Joe Flanagan added 18 points, including two foul shots with 32.8 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 62-62 and force overtime, while Keith Fogel contributed 16 points and seven assists as the Blue Jays (11-3 overall, 3-1 Commonwealth) earned their seventh straight victory.
Dan Dunkelberger led the Flying Dutchmen (6-7 overall, 2-2 Commonwealth) with 17 points and eight rebounds, but Lebanon Valley went just 1-for-6 from the field in overtime and was outscored 12-4 by Elizabethtown in the extra period.
Lebanon Valley led for most of the first half and held a 29-25 advantage at intermission behind eight points from Dunkelberger. Church led Elizabethtown with 10 points and five rebounds in the opening half while Flanagan chipped in with six points.
The Dutchmen expanded their four-point halftime lead to seven as Sean MacIntosh drilled three three-pointers in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second half to give Lebanon Valley a 38-31 lead. The Blue Jays crept within two at 42-40 on a basket by Bryan Harrity with 14:33 left, but following a Jordan Stewart bucket for the Dutchmen with 14:12 remaining, the game was delayed for 15 minutes as the gymnasium lights were inadvertently preprogrammed to shut off at 9:00 p.m.
When play resumed, the Dutchmen ran their lead out to 11 points at 55-44 on a basket by Joe Meehan with 9:34 remaining. Trailing 60-53 with 6:32 to go, the Blue Jays stormed back as Church scored four points and Harrity three to bring Elizabethtown within 62-60 with 2:20 to go.
After Flanagan hit the tying free throws with 32.8 seconds to play, Meehan's potential game-winning jumper was off the mark with one second left, sending the teams to overtime. Flanagan gave the Blue Jays the lead for good with 3:06 left on a three-pointer, and the Blue Jays went 5-for-6 from the foul line in the final 1:16 to seal the win.
Harrity finished with nine points in 18 minutes off the bench for the Blue Jays, while Stewart led all Dutchmen reserves with 10 points to go with five rebounds and six steals.
For the game, the Blue Jays shot 52 percent (26-for-50) from the field but went just 2-for-14 from three-point range. Elizabethtown finished 20-for-24 at the foul line while Lebanon Valley hit just 9-of-13 attempts.
With the win, Elizabethtown maintains a four-way tie atop the Commonwealth Conference standings with Albright College, Alvernia University and Lycoming College joining the Blue Jays at 3-1. Elizabethtown plays at Albright on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. while Alvernia plays at Messiah College and Lycoming travels to Arcadia University.
Blue Jay Win Streak Snapped at Albright, 59-58
1/16/2010 6:44:29 PM
Box score
READING, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College had its seven-game winning streak come to an end Saturday afternoon as host Albright College edged the Blue Jays 59-58 in a Commonwealth Conference men's basketball contest at the Bollman Center.
The Blue Jays (11-4 overall, 3-2 Commonwealth) lost for the first time since Dec. 2 to Alvernia University, despite having two chances for the winning basket in the final seconds against the Lions (13-2 overall, 4-1 Commonwealth). With the win, Albright moved into a first-place tie atop the Commonwealth standings with Lycoming College while Elizabethtown fell into a deadlock for third place with Alvernia at 3-2.
Matt Ashcroft led Albright with 15 points, while Joe Flanagan paced the Blue Jays with 16 points and seven rebounds. Both teams struggled from the field, as the Lions shot 35.9 percent (23-for-64) for the afternoon while the Blue Jays hit 32.7 percent (18-for-55) from the floor.
Albright led 59-58 following a layup by Keith Fogel with 18 seconds left, but the Lions' Andre Murphy missed two free throws with 15 seconds remaining to give the Blue Jays a chance at stealing the win. Flanagan missed a three-pointer with eight seconds left, and Mike Church misfired on a follow-up shot with five seconds remaining to allow the Lions to escape with the victory.
A three-pointer by the Lions' Adam Van Zelst with 7:57 left gave Albright the lead for good at 41-38, an advantage that grew to 52-45 following a three-pointer by Zac Shaeffer with 3:48 to play. A key three-pointer by Ashcroft pushed the Lions ahead 57-52 with 1:02 to play, but the Blue Jays pulled within three when Mark Vogel hit two foul shots with 33 seconds left.
After an Albright turnover, Flanagan connected on two free throws with 29 seconds left to bring the Blue Jays within 57-56. Shaeffer responded with two free throws with 27 seconds to go to restore the Lions' three-point lead before Fogel's basket cut the deficit to one. Fogel finished with 11 points, five rebounds and six assists for Elizabethtown while Church added 14 points, six boards and four blocked shots.
Albright led 22-21 with 3:48 left in the first half following a three-pointer by Church, but the Lions scored the final eight points of the half - including back-to-back three-pointers by Ashcroft and Shaeffer - to go ahead 30-21 at intermission. Ashcroft led all players with eight points in the first half while Flanagan paced the Blue Jays with six points.
From the E-town College Website:
Blue Jays Work Overtime for Seventh Straight Win, Down LVC 74-66
1/13/2010 10:15:36 PM
Box score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Mike Church scored a season-high 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Elizabethtown College overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Lebanon Valley College 74-66 in overtime in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action on Wednesday night at Thompson Gymnasium.
Joe Flanagan added 18 points, including two foul shots with 32.8 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 62-62 and force overtime, while Keith Fogel contributed 16 points and seven assists as the Blue Jays (11-3 overall, 3-1 Commonwealth) earned their seventh straight victory.
Dan Dunkelberger led the Flying Dutchmen (6-7 overall, 2-2 Commonwealth) with 17 points and eight rebounds, but Lebanon Valley went just 1-for-6 from the field in overtime and was outscored 12-4 by Elizabethtown in the extra period.
Lebanon Valley led for most of the first half and held a 29-25 advantage at intermission behind eight points from Dunkelberger. Church led Elizabethtown with 10 points and five rebounds in the opening half while Flanagan chipped in with six points.
The Dutchmen expanded their four-point halftime lead to seven as Sean MacIntosh drilled three three-pointers in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second half to give Lebanon Valley a 38-31 lead. The Blue Jays crept within two at 42-40 on a basket by Bryan Harrity with 14:33 left, but following a Jordan Stewart bucket for the Dutchmen with 14:12 remaining, the game was delayed for 15 minutes as the gymnasium lights were inadvertently preprogrammed to shut off at 9:00 p.m.
When play resumed, the Dutchmen ran their lead out to 11 points at 55-44 on a basket by Joe Meehan with 9:34 remaining. Trailing 60-53 with 6:32 to go, the Blue Jays stormed back as Church scored four points and Harrity three to bring Elizabethtown within 62-60 with 2:20 to go.
After Flanagan hit the tying free throws with 32.8 seconds to play, Meehan's potential game-winning jumper was off the mark with one second left, sending the teams to overtime. Flanagan gave the Blue Jays the lead for good with 3:06 left on a three-pointer, and the Blue Jays went 5-for-6 from the foul line in the final 1:16 to seal the win.
Harrity finished with nine points in 18 minutes off the bench for the Blue Jays, while Stewart led all Dutchmen reserves with 10 points to go with five rebounds and six steals.
For the game, the Blue Jays shot 52 percent (26-for-50) from the field but went just 2-for-14 from three-point range. Elizabethtown finished 20-for-24 at the foul line while Lebanon Valley hit just 9-of-13 attempts.
With the win, Elizabethtown maintains a four-way tie atop the Commonwealth Conference standings with Albright College, Alvernia University and Lycoming College joining the Blue Jays at 3-1. Elizabethtown plays at Albright on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. while Alvernia plays at Messiah College and Lycoming travels to Arcadia University.
Blue Jay Win Streak Snapped at Albright, 59-58
1/16/2010 6:44:29 PM
Box score
READING, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College had its seven-game winning streak come to an end Saturday afternoon as host Albright College edged the Blue Jays 59-58 in a Commonwealth Conference men's basketball contest at the Bollman Center.
The Blue Jays (11-4 overall, 3-2 Commonwealth) lost for the first time since Dec. 2 to Alvernia University, despite having two chances for the winning basket in the final seconds against the Lions (13-2 overall, 4-1 Commonwealth). With the win, Albright moved into a first-place tie atop the Commonwealth standings with Lycoming College while Elizabethtown fell into a deadlock for third place with Alvernia at 3-2.
Matt Ashcroft led Albright with 15 points, while Joe Flanagan paced the Blue Jays with 16 points and seven rebounds. Both teams struggled from the field, as the Lions shot 35.9 percent (23-for-64) for the afternoon while the Blue Jays hit 32.7 percent (18-for-55) from the floor.
Albright led 59-58 following a layup by Keith Fogel with 18 seconds left, but the Lions' Andre Murphy missed two free throws with 15 seconds remaining to give the Blue Jays a chance at stealing the win. Flanagan missed a three-pointer with eight seconds left, and Mike Church misfired on a follow-up shot with five seconds remaining to allow the Lions to escape with the victory.
A three-pointer by the Lions' Adam Van Zelst with 7:57 left gave Albright the lead for good at 41-38, an advantage that grew to 52-45 following a three-pointer by Zac Shaeffer with 3:48 to play. A key three-pointer by Ashcroft pushed the Lions ahead 57-52 with 1:02 to play, but the Blue Jays pulled within three when Mark Vogel hit two foul shots with 33 seconds left.
After an Albright turnover, Flanagan connected on two free throws with 29 seconds left to bring the Blue Jays within 57-56. Shaeffer responded with two free throws with 27 seconds to go to restore the Lions' three-point lead before Fogel's basket cut the deficit to one. Fogel finished with 11 points, five rebounds and six assists for Elizabethtown while Church added 14 points, six boards and four blocked shots.
Albright led 22-21 with 3:48 left in the first half following a three-pointer by Church, but the Lions scored the final eight points of the half - including back-to-back three-pointers by Ashcroft and Shaeffer - to go ahead 30-21 at intermission. Ashcroft led all players with eight points in the first half while Flanagan paced the Blue Jays with six points.
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