Church's career high leads Etown over Neumann, 82-75

From the E-town College Website:

11/29/2008

Church's career high leads Etown over Neumann, 82-75

ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Elizabethtown 82, Neumann 75

Click here for the box score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Mike Church (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) scored a career-high 27 points as Elizabethtown College downed Neumann College 82-75 in non-conference men's basketball action at Thompson Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Joe Flanagan (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) added 19 points for the Blue Jays (4-2 overall), who erased an eight-point second half deficit by outscoring the Knights (1-3 overall) 33-15 over an eight-minute span midway through the half.

Church went 8-for-15 from the field and 11-for-12 from the foul line to surpass his previous best scoring output of 22 points set on Feb. 16 of last season at Lebanon Valley College. He scored nine of his points during a 12-2 Elizabethtown run that turned a 55-51 deficit with 11:28 to play into a 63-57 advantage with 8:36 to go.

Mike Walukiewicz scored 22 points, including 17 in the second half, to lead Neumann, but the Knights shot just 40.6 percent (13-for-32) from the field after intermission following a first half in which they shot 63.2 percent (12-for-19). Overall, the Knights finished at 49.0 percent (25-for-51) but committed 24 turnovers.

Despite the hot shooting from Neumann in the first half, it was Elizabethtown that scored the final six points of the period to go into halftime with a 38-34 lead. Church netted 12 points to lead the Blue Jays while Flanagan added nine, and Eli Hitchens paced the Knights with a game-high 13 points.

Neumann opened the second half with a 14-2 run to take its largest lead of the day at 48-40 on a three-point play by Walukiewicz with 15:21 to go. However, the Blue Jays stormed back to take a 56-55 lead on a layup by Church with 10:34 remaining.

Down by six, the Knights made a final push to cut the Etown lead to 63-61 with 7:51 left. The Blue Jays answered with a quick 10-2 run to move on top 73-63 with 5:45 left, but Neumann again rallied to trim the deficit to 73-70 with 3:45 to go.

From there, baskets by Brady Haughney (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken), Keith Fogel (Mifllinburg, PA/Mifflinburg) and Church gave Elizabethtown a 79-70 advantage at the 2:09 mark, and the Blue Jays hit three foul shots in the final 64 seconds to seal the win.

Fogel joined Church and Flanagan in double figures for Elizabethtown with 12 points, while Phil Schaffer (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City) had a season-high nine assists. Chris Fairbanks (Lititz, PA/Warwick) finished with a team-high seven rebounds for the Blue Jays, who held a 36-32 edge on the glass over the Knights.

Eli Hitchens tallied 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Knights, with Michael Hitchens and Na'Sheed Linton adding 12 points apiece.

From the Neumann College Website:

Men's Basketball Falls at Elizabethtown

11/29/2008 6:24:16 PM
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The Neumann College men’s basketball team lost to Elizabethtown College, 82-75, Saturday afternoon in a non-conference match-up.

Mike Walukiewicz (fr. Elmer, N.J. / Cumberland Regional) led four Knights in double figures with 22 points, including five three-pointers. Eli Hitchens (sr. Abington, Pa. / Abington) netted 15 points. Na’Sheed Linton and Mike Hitchens (sr. Abington, Pa. / Abington) each scored 12.

Mike Church led the Blue Jays with 27 points. Joe Flanagan netted 19 points and Keith Fogel added 12.

The first half featured 11 lead changes and two ties. Elizabethtown netted the final four points of the half to take a four point lead, 38-34, into the locker room.

Sean Armstrong and Mike Hitchens scored two points a piece to begin the second half and tie the game at 38-all. After the teams traded buckets, the Knights netted the next eight points for its largest lead of the game at 48-40. Elizabethtown responded with the next six points to cut the Knights lead to two.

Again the team would trade baskets, but the Blue Jays would take a one point lead on a Church lay-up and Flanagan sank and three-pointer to make the score 59-55. Elizabethtown would build its lead to 10 points with 5:45 remaining. The Knights got within three points with 3:45 left, but the Blue Jays held on for the 82-75 win.

Neumann is now 1-3 on the season. Elizabethtown is 4-2. The Knights will open Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) play on Monday night at Immaculata. The men will tip-off at 8 p.m. which follows the women at 6 p.m.

From the Lancaster Sunday News:

Blue Jays make their run last

E-town men beat Neumann College 82-75, thanks to a second-half spurt.

By GREG CALDWELL, Correspondent

Basketball is a game of spurts, and Elizabethtown College used a big one in the second half to turn a deficit into a secure lead in a 82-75 victory over Neumann College Saturday in men's action at Thompson Gymnasium.

The Blue Jays (4-2) trailed 48-42 five minutes into the second half when the team caught fire, going on a 31-16 run over the next ten minutes to take the lead for good. E-town was led by the inside and foul shooting of junior center Mike Church (Solanco) who finished with a career-high 27 points to pace the attack.

"We had less spells of ineptness today than in any other game," Blue Jays' coach Bob Schlosser said. "We picked it up defensively when we needed to, hit our foul shots and got strong play from the bench. We do let up some easy baskets, but the opponents are turning the ball over and I like to think we are wearing teams down."

Church was helped on offense by the outside shooting of Joe Flanagan (Lancaster Mennonite), who hit three of five three-point tries and scored 19 points, and Keith Fogel, who chipped in 12.

E-town and Neumann (1-3) exchanged the lead in the early part of the first half, before the Blue Jays used a 16-8 run to go up by six, 21-15. Flanagan scored seven points during this time, including a lay-up where he spun past the last defender and hit the easy basket. The Knights, who had lost two close games against their two previous opponents, bounced back to take its first lead since early in the game, 25-23. The teams exchanged the lead five more times, and the Blue Jays went into the locker room up 38-34.

The intermission seemed to take something out of the Blue Jays, as the team came out flat and failed to make a field goal the first five minutes. Church sank two free throws for the team's only points during this time. Neumann took advantage of this lapse to score 14 of the first 16 points of the half and lead 48-40.

"Basketball is a game of spurts at this level and it is the team that can limit those down runs that wins," Schlosser said. "They went ahead, but we did not let it last long and got back into the game."

Flanagan started the Blue Jays' recovery, scoring an easy basket off the inbounds to cut the lead to six. Mike Walukiewicz, who paced the Knights with 22 points, hit a 3-pointer to give his team a 55-51 lead. Church drove the lane on the next possession, and sank an inside jumper as he was fouled. He hit the foul shot and scored again after a Knights' turnover to put the Blue Jays back on top, 56-55. Neumann missed a shot on the other end, and Flanagan then sank a wide open shot from long range to give E-town a 59-55 lead.

"The spurt was huge," Church said. "We try every game to limit their runs and make our runs last longer. Our comeback shows the character of the team. We are not going to quit ever."

The Knights used strong foul shooting and hustle to cut the lead down to a basket on two different occasions, but were never able to pull even. A subsequent three-point play by Phil Schaffer, who excelled on defense and dished out nine assists, pushed the lead to eight. Fogel scored off a perfect assist from Church for 73-63 lead. Church sank a late field goal and two foul shots to finish up his great game and secure the win for the Blue Jays.

"We feel better about how we are playing, as we are playing like a team now," said Schlosser.

E-town travels to Division II Millersville at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, before returning home next Saturday to face Gwynedd-Mercy.