Blue Jays hold off Millersville, 70-65

From the E-town College Website:

12/3/2008
Men's basketball holds off Millersville, 70-65

ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Elizabethtown 70, Millersville 65

Click here for the box score

MILLERSVILLE, Pa --- Keith Fogel (Mifllinburg, PA/Mifflinburg) scored a game-high 18 points as Elizabethtown College knocked off Division II Millersville University 70-65 in non-conference men's basketball action on Wednesday night at Pucillo Gymnasium.

Fogel sank a career-high three three-pointers for the Blue Jays (5-2 overall), who led most of the night and defeated their local rivals for the second straight year.

Joe Flanagan (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) added 11 points for the Blue Jays while Chris Fairbanks (Lititz, PA/Warwick) finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes off the Blue Jay bench.

Reggie Bates led the Marauders (3-3 overall) with 16 points while Makal Stibbins had 15 points and 10 rebounds, but Millersville shot just 3-for-18 from three-point range and 12-for-20 from the foul line as a team.

The Blue Jays led by as many as seven points in the first half, and carried a 29-26 lead to intermission behind 10 points from Fogel and eight by Flanagan.

Millersville scored the first eight points of the second half to take its largest lead of the night at 34-29 with 18:23 to go, but the Blue Jays rallied back and took the lead for good at 39-37 on a basket by Chris Hill (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) with 13:14 to go.

Leading 45-43 with 10:08 to play,the Blue Jays went on an 8-0 run to take a 53-43 lead with 8:26 to go on a pair of free throws by Kyle McConnell (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest).

Elizabethtown still held a 10-point advantage at 62-52 with 4:29 left, but the Marauders rallied to within 67-64 on a tip-in by Zac Bauermaster with 26.1 seconds left. However, Mike Church (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) hit two big free throws with 20.8 seconds left to push the Blue Jays ahead by five, and Josh Houseal (Landisville, PA/Hempfield) salted the game away on a free throw with 7.2 seconds to go.

Houseal scored seven points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for the Blue Jays, while Church added nine points, seven rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes. As a team, the Blue Jays went 24-for-33 (72.7 percent) from the free-throw line including 17-for-22 in the second half.

McConnell also reached a career high for Elizabethtown by scoring nine points in 17 minutes off the bench. The Blue Jay non-starters outscored the Marauder reserves by a 23-13 margin.