Tournament Coverage

It was good seeing everyone in Wilkes-Barre over the weekend. It was good to welcome basketball back into our routine as well. Following are the articles about this weekend's 1-1 roadtrip.

First from the E-town College Website:

1/3/2009

Men's basketball returns to action with 71-69 win at Wilkes

ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, January 3, 2009

Elizabethtown 71, Wilkes 69

Click here for the box score

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. --- Keith Fogel (Mifllinburg, PA/Mifflinburg) scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the second half as Elizabethtown College edged Wilkes University 71-69 in men's basketball action at the Marts Center on Saturday night as part of the Wilkes-Barre Challenge.

Joe Flanagan (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) and Mike Church (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) each added 15 points for the Blue Jays (6-5 overall), who snapped a three-game losing streak in winning for the first time since a 70-65 victory at Millersville University exactly one month earlier.

Chris DeRojas paced the Colonels (5-3 overall) with a game-high 27 points, including six three-pointers, but scored just five points in the second half. Steve Kline added 19 points and eight rebounds for Wilkes, which finished 7-for-29 from three-point range as a team.

Despite making just one field goal in a span of five minutes midway through the second half and none in the final 5:06, the Blue Jays were able to convert a 54-54 tie into an eight-point lead by holding the Colonels without a basket for four minutes during the same stretch.

Elizabethtown led 69-61 following two foul shots by Church with 4:05 to go, but Wilkes pulled to within 69-66 on a three-pointer by Chris Gulla with 3:04 left and a layup by Tom Kresge with 1:06 remaining.

Flanagan, who scored in double figures for the 11th time in as many games this season, sank two foul shots with 10 seconds to play to give the Blue Jays a 71-66 lead. DeRojas nailed a three-pointer with six seconds left to bring the Colonels back within two, but Wilkes would not regain possession.

Both teams shot 16-for-32 from the field and made five three-pointers in the first half, but two extra foul shots by the Blue Jays gave them a 41-39 lead at intermission. Flanagan led the Blue Jays with 13 points while DeRojas went 5-for-10 from beyond the arc and scored 22 points for the Colonels.

Josh Houseal (Landisville, PA/Hempfield) added eight points and five rebounds for the Blue Jays, while Chris Fairbanks (Lititz, PA/Warwick) and Kyle McConnell (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) came off the Etown bench to score six points apiece.

Elizabethtown will battle King's College on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the Marts Center in the second half of the Wilkes-Barre Challenge. The Monarchs traveled across town to defeat Ramapo College 75-74 in Saturday's opening game.

1/4/2009

Men's basketball tumbles to King's, 72-54

ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Sunday, January 4, 2009

King's 72, Elizabethtown 54

Click here for the box score

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. --- Kevin Conroy posted game highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead King's College to a 72-54 victory over Elizabethtown College in men's basketball action at the Wilkes-Barre Challenge on Sunday afternoon at Wilkes University.

Chase McGowan added 12 points while Jim Schule had 10 points and six rebounds for the Monarchs (6-5 overall), who won for the second time in less than 24 hours following a five-game losing streaak.

Kyle McConnell (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) was the lone player in double figures for the Blue Jays (6-6 overall) as he came off the bench to score a season-high 11 points, including three three-pointers. However, the Blue Jays shot 33.3 percent (19-for-57) from the field and recorded a season low in points.

The Monarchs built a 40-28 lead at halftime by shooting 50 percent (13-for-26) from the field, and led by as many as 19 points in the second half. King's took advantage of a 25-14 foul disparity to go 22-for-26 from the free-throw line compared to 9-for-15 by Elizabethtown.

King's finished the game with a 42-27 edge in rebounding, with Mike Church (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) leading Elizabethtown with five boards. The Blue Jays committed just nine turnovers as a team, while the Monarchs were guilty of 15 miscues.

Joe Flanagan (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) finished with nine points in 24 minutes for Elizabethtown, the first time in 12 games this season he failed to reach double figures.

From the Wilkes University Website:

ELIZABETHTOWN GETS PAST COLONEL MEN

DeRojas scores season-high 27 points

Box Score

Chris DeRojas scored a season-high 27 points, while Steve Kline added 19 but it wasn’t enough as Elizabethtown took a 71-69 win over Wilkes University in the second game of the Wilkes-Barre Challenge.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Colonels as they moved to 5-3 on the year.

DeRojas and Kline were the only two Wilkes players to score in double-figures, while Chris Gulla put in eight and Anthony Gabriel chipped in with six. Keith Fogel put up a team-high 17 points for Elizabethtown, while Mike Church and Joe Flanagan had 15 points each for the Blue Jays who improved to 6-5 on the year.

DeRojas gave the Colonels an 11-10 lead with 13:53 to go in the first on one of his six three-pointers on the night, but Kyle McConnell gave Elizabethtown the lead after hitting a 15-foot jumper just a few seconds later. The Blue Jays would hold the advantage the rest of the half and led by as many as 10 with 6:19 to go.

Wilkes closed out the first half with a 7-3 run that was capped off on a three-pointer with four seconds to go before the break to pull the Colonels within two (41-39) at the break.

The second half was much like the first as the Blue Jays held the lead until Gabriel knocked down a pair of free throws to give Wilkes a 50-48 advantage with 12:45 to go. The Colonels held the lead until Kyle McConnell hit a pair of free throws of his own, giving the Blue Jays a 56-54 lead they would not lose the rest of the way.

Both teams exchanged buckets the rest of the way until the Colonels used a 5-0 run with 1:06 to go to pull within three (69-66). Tom Kresge knocked down an 18-footer with just over a minute to go, but Wilkes would not score again until DeRojas made his final three-pointer of the night with six seconds to go.

In the first game of the tournament, King’s defeated Ramapo 75-74. King’s will face Elizabethtown at 1 p.m. tomorrow followed by the Wilkes-Ramapo contest scheduled for 3 p.m.

From the King's College Website:

Men's Basketball Down's Etown, Finishes 2-0 in WB Challenge

MONARCH BASKETBALL OVER POWER BLUE JAYS

WILKES-BARRE--- Sophomore forward Kevin Conroy posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds as the King’s College men’s basketball team downed Elizabethtown College 72-54 in their second win in as many days during the Wilkes-Barre Challenge hosted at Wilkes University Sunday afternoon.

With the win, King’s improved to 6-5 on the season while Elizabethtown falls to 6-6.

The Monarchs found themselves down early in the first half, with Elizabethtown leading 13-8 with 14:12 left. King’s would chip away at the Blue lead and finally knotted the score at 13 when sophomore forward Harry Schlichter converted a traditional three-point play. Junior guard Wil Acavedo broke the tie with a lay-up at 11:18, putting King’s up 15-13. Elizabethtown kept it close with a Brian Allport free-throw, making the score 18-17. The Monarchs then went on a 7-2 run, picking up back-to-back three pointers from Adam Brasky, and a third deep ball from Chase McGowan, bringing the score at 27-19.

The Jays would slowly work back when Kyle McConnell hit a three-point basket to move the score to 29-28 at the 3:37 mark. With 2:53 left on the clock, King’s went on an 11-point run as freshman guard Kyle Stackhouse started the surge with a jumper from just outside of the paint. McGowan added to the lead with another three-pointer, followed by one more deep shot from freshman guard/forward Nick Reisig as the Monarchs would take a 40-28 lead into the locker.

King’s came out in the second half and began to dominate play as McGowan knocked down two free throws and junior forward Jim Schule gave King’s a 17 point lead with a deep three. The Monarchs were able to maintain their lead, keeping themselves with a double digit advantage for the rest of the half, going up by as many as 19 points.

Three King’s players found double digits in scoring, with all-tournament team selection Conroy pacing the team by going 3-4 from the field and 8-of-9 from the line. Schule finished the game with 10 points, four assists and six rebounds, while McGowan ended up with 12 points, hitting 6-of-8 from the line. Reisig finished with eight points, going 2-for-from down town. Freshman Kyle Stackhouse, who scored six points Sunday after posting 16 on Saturday against Ramapo, was also named to the all-tournament team. As a squad, King’s shot a solid 46.7 (21-45) percent from the field, including 8-20 (40.0 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Blue Jays were paced by McConnell, who scored 11 points. Mike Church lead Elizabethtown on the glass, pulling down five rebounds.

King’s will be back in action this Wednesday when they host Centenary College before entering the second half of their conference schedule. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm.

From the Lancaster Sunday News:

E-town edges Wilkes

Men's basketball
Sunday News
Published: Jan 04, 200900:10 EST
Wilkes-Barre

By STAFF

Keith Fogel scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the second half as Elizabethtown College edged Wilkes University 71-69 in men's basketball Saturday night in the Wilkes-Barre Challenge.

Joe Flanagan (Lancaster Mennonite) and Mike Church (Solanco) each added 15 points for the Blue Jays (6-5), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Chris DeRojas paced the Colonels (5-3) with a game-high 27 points, including six three-pointers, but scored just five points in the second half. Steve Kline added 19 points and eight rebounds for Wilkes, which finished 7-for-29 from three-point range as a team.

Despite making just one field goal in a span of five minutes midway through the second half and none in the final 5:06, the Blue Jays were able to convert a 54-54 tie into an eight-point lead by holding the Colonels without a basket for four minutes during the same stretch.

Elizabethtown led 69-61 following two foul shots by Church with 4:05 to go, but Wilkes pulled to within 69-66 on a three-pointer by Chris Gulla with 3:04 left and a layup by Tom Kresge with 1:06 remaining.

Flanagan, who scored in double figures for the 11th time in as many games this season, sank two foul shots with 10 seconds to play to give the Blue Jays a 71-66 lead. DeRojas nailed a three-pointer with six seconds left to bring the Colonels back within two, but Wilkes would not regain possession.

Josh Houseal (Hempfield) added eight points and five rebounds for the Blue Jays while Chris Fairbanks (Warwick) and Kyle McConnell (Cedar Crest) each had six.

Elizabethtown will play King's at 1 p.m. today in the second half of the Wilkes-Barre Challenge. The Monarchs beat Ramapo 75-74 in Saturday's opening game.

From The Citizens Voice:

Monarchs slow down Ramapo; Wilkes stumbles

BY STEVE BENNETTSTAFF WRITER
Published: Sunday, January 4, 2009 4:06 AM EST

WILKES-BARRE — Though the circumstances were much different and the stakes considerably higher the last time King’s faced Ramapo in 2005, there were some similarities between the two teams.

In 2005 when the Monarchs eliminated Ramapo in the Sweet 16 of the Division III NCAA Tournament, King’s relied on a relatively young team. That was again the case Saturday night in the opening round of the Wilkes-Barre Challenge. And just like in 2005, Ramapo likes the up-tempo style of play.

But when the Monarchs forced Ramapo into a halfcourt game and slowed things down, the RoadRunners became frustrated and once again the Monarchs pulled out the victory.

King’s placed five players in double figures, led by Chase McGowan’s 19 in a 75-74 victory at Wilkes University’s Marts Center which helped the Monarchs stop a five-game losing streak and improve to 5-5 on the year.

“Their pressure takes you out of what you want to do and defensively that is as much pressure as we are going to see,” King’s coach J.P. Andreko said. “We did enough to win the game and that is all that really matters.”

The Monarchs turned the ball over 16 times and were outrebounded 42-26 on the night, but down the stretch it was the little things that allowed King’s to finish on top. The King’s guards settled down in the second half and found the open man on the floor. And in the final 1:34 of the game went 8-of-8 from the foul line to prevent Ramapo from coming back.

“In the second half our guards weren’t running around like crazy,” Andrejko said. “They saw the double-team was coming and they waited to make the open pass. They don’t make the game pretty and there is only so much you can control. Ramapo uses the double-team to disrupt you and we were taking care of the ball a bit better.”

McGowan converted a three-point play with 4:28 remaining in the game to put King’s ahead, 65-63.

Ramapo tied the game at 69-69 with 1:47 left but Kevin Conroy hit four consecutive foul shots and Kyle Stackhouse added two more down the stretch to seal the win.

In the nightcap, Wilkes seemed content to try and win the game from the perimeter, shooting 24.1 percent from beyond the 3-point line and Elizabethtown was content to let the Colonels try and win that way. But in the end, the Blue Jays picked up a 71-69 victory.

The loss dropped Wilkes to 5-3 as the Colonels made just 7-of-29 shots from behind the arc. Colonels guard Chris DeRojas led all scoreres with 27 points with Steve Kline chipping in with 19.

The Blue Jays led 41-39 at the half and the teams exchanged the lead four times in the second half with Elizabethtown pulling ahead to stay on a pair of Kyle McConnell free throws with 8:36 left in the game. Wilkes pulled within one on two free throws from Kline but that was as close as the Colonels would come the rest of the way.

The round robin tournament wraps up this afternoon at the Marts Center with King’s taking on Elizabethtown at 1 followed by Wilkes and Ramapo at 3.