Big Win at LVC!

Congrat's to the Blue Jays on a job well done at LVC on Saturday! Following are game stories taken from around the web.

First from the E-town College Website:

2/14/2009

Men's hoops clinches playoff berth with 78-74 win at LVC

ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Elizabethtown 78, Lebanon Valley 74

Click here for the box score

ANNVILLE, Pa. --- Joe Flanagan (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) sank four three-pointers and finished with 22 points as Elizabethtown College clinched a Commonwealth Conference playoff berth with a 78-74 victory at Lebanon Valley College in men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.

Keith Fogel (Mifflinburg, PA/Mifflinburg) added 17 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:22 left, as the Blue Jays (12-11 overall, 6-5 Commonwealth) secured their first postseason appearance since the 2005-06 season with the win and Lycoming College's 70-55 loss at Widener University earlier in the day.

Elizabethtown shot 50.9 percent (28-for-55) overall from the field, including a season-high 11 three-pointers, and put the game away with six foul shots in the final minute to finish the sweep of the season series with the Dutchmen (11-12 overall, 4-7 Commonwealth).

Mike Church (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) hit the clinching free throws with 4.5 seconds left and finished with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Chris Jones (Airville, PA/Kennard-Dale) drilled all three of his three-point attempts and finished with a career-high 10 points in 11 minutes off the Blue Jay bench.

Joe Meehan led Lebanon Valley with 23 points while Kyle Enoch added 18 points and Eric Humphrey chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Dutchmen, who shot 49.1 percent (27-for-55) from the field as a team and went 16-for-23 from the foul line compared to 11-for-20 by the Blue Jays.

The Dutchmen tied the game at 69-69 on a layup by Humphrey with 2:39 to go, but Fogel drilled a three-pointer on the Blue Jays' next possession to put Elizabethtown on top 72-69 with 2:22 left.

Flanagan made two foul shots with 50.0 seconds remaining to extend the Elizabethtown lead to 74-69, but Enoch responded with a three-pointer to pull the Dutchmen back to within 74-72 with 27.5 seconds to go. Flanagan hit two more free throws with 16.3 seconds left to push the Blue Jays on top 76-72, and Meehan hit a layup with 8.7 seconds to go to cut the Etown advantage to 76-74.

Elizabethtown missed two free throws with 8.0 seconds left, but Church came down with the offensive rebound and made both free throws with 4.5 seconds to play to clinch the win.

The Blue Jays got off to a scorching start, making their first four three-point attempts and nine of their first 10 shots overall to take a 22-13 lead with 13:00 left in the first half. Lebanon Valley came back to take a 26-25 lead on a steal and layup by Enoch with 9:44 left in the half, and the lead swapped back and forth the rest of the half before the teams went to intermission tied at 41-41.

Meehan and Enoch shared the team lead in scoring for Lebanon Valley with 12 points apiece, while Elizabethtown was paced by 11 points from Flanagan and 10 points by Fogel. The Blue Jays shot 57.1 percent (16-for-28) from the field including 7-for-12 from three-point range, while the Dutchmen were 15-for-30 from the floor in the half.

The Blue Jays led by five early in the second half, but the Dutchmen came back to take a 60-56 lead on a basket by Meehan with 7:27 to play. Jones tied the game on a three-pointer with 5:51 left, and Fogel gave Elizabethtown a 64-62 advantage on a steal and layup with 5:24 remaining.

From the Lebanon Valley College Website:

E-town Holds Off Dutchmen, 78-74

2/14/2009 5:58:23 PM

Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. - Elizabethtown's Keith Fogel hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:27 left and the Blue Jays held off a late Lebanon Valley comeback attempt to win, 78-74, in a Commonwealth Conference men's basketball game on Saturday.

The Blue Jays (12-11, 6-5 CC) clinched a playoff berth with the win, while the Dutchmen (11-12, 4-7 CC) would now need serious help to get in. To grab the fourth seed, LVC would need to beat Widener on Tuesday and hope for Messiah to lose their last two games and Lycoming to beat Messiah and lose to Albright. (Read more playoff analysis on the GoDutchmen.com Blog)

The 113th edition of the rivalry didn't disappoint, with 11 lead changes and eight ties in the course of the game giving an electric LVC Gymnasium all it could handle. Many LVC fans came dressed in white to support the Coaches vs. Cancer program, and a portion of the proceeds from the game will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

The game was also the 25th Annual "Hot Dog" Frank Day, and the "Hot Dog" Frank Athletic Service Award was presented at halftime to Bob and Judy Hamilton. Bob recently retired as LVC's vice president of administration, and the Hamiltons have been ardent supports of LVC athletics over the past two decades.

Joe Meehan dropped a career-high 23 points to go with seven assists, while Kyle Enoch added 18 points for the Dutchmen. Joe Flanagan drained 22 points, including four three-pointers, and Fogel ended with 17 for E-town.

Both teams shot well, with LVC making 49.1 percent of its shots and E-town shooting 50.9 percent.

LVC set the tempo early with back-to-back Enoch three's in the first minute, but the Blue Jays responded with an 11-0 run to take the lead. The Dutchmen eventually cut the lead and went up late in the half, and the sides traded the lead four times in the final minute as Meehan's game-tying jumper made it 41-41 at the break.

Elizabethtown held the lead for the most of the second half before Zach Hoover's jumper put LVC up three with 6:07 to go. Chris Jones came back with a three-pointer to tie the game, however, and Fogel picked off Enoch and cruised in for a go-ahead layup seconds later to go up 64-62.

E-town clung to the lead until Eric Humphrey's inside bucket tied the game at 69 with 2:42 to go, but Fogel took a cross-court pass from Jones and buried a three-pointer 15 seconds later to go on top.

Flanagan made a pair of free throws to extend the lead to five, but Enoch breathed life into the Dutchmen with a three-pointer to make it a two-point game. After another two Flanagan freebies, Meehan made a layup with eight seconds left and sent Josh Houseal to the line.

With a chance to ice the game, Houseal missed his first free throw, but E-town big man Mike Church came up with the rebound, then made both his free throws with four seconds left to secure the win.

LVC will head to Widener in a must-win game Tuesday night.

From the Lebanon Daily News:

Dutchmen on brink of elimination

By PAT HUGGINS
Daily News Sportswriter
Lebanon Daily News

Updated: 02/14/2009 11:08:07 PM EST

ANNVILLE — It was only one play in a game filled with countless big plays and potentially defining moments and momentum swings.

But ultimately, it served as a fitting and frustrating symbol of a Lebanon Valley College men’s basketball season that never really got started.

And one that is now essentially finished.

LVC’s failure to secure a critical defensive rebound of a missed foul shot in the closing seconds was the final missed opportunity in a season littered with them and led to a crushing 78-74 Hot Dog Frank Day defeat to Elizabethtown that all but eliminated the Flying Dutchmen from the Commonwealth Conference playoff race.

Despite putting up a spirited fight highlighted by the superb play of freshman point guard Joe Meehan, Lebanon Valley’s playoff hopes were on life support when E-town’s Josh Houseal headed to the foul line with eight seconds left and the Blue Jays clinging to a 76-74 lead.

Oh, but wait. The basketball gods appeared willing to give the Dutchmen a reprieve after Houseal clanked the first free throw off the back iron, allowing the contest to remain a one-possession game.

Maybe it would have been better for LVC if Houseal had made the second charity toss. But he missed that one, too, and instead of grabbing the carom, LVC watched helplessly as E-town’s Mike Church snared the offensive rebound.

Church was subsequently fouled, but unlike Houseal buried both free throws with four ticks left and LVC’s season in the process.

Now 4-7 in the Commonwealth, the Valley (11-12 overall) must now beat first-place Widener on Tuesday and pray for a ridiculous amount of help to qualify for the postseason.

E-town, meanwhile, clinched a Commonwealth playoff berth and improved to 6-5 in the conference and 12-11 overall with the win.

“Yeah, I think so,” said LVC coach Brad McAlester, when asked if the rebound that wasn’t summed up his team’s frustrating season. “There were just a ton of plays where we were a dollar short, you know. It’s tough.

“We didn’t box out. They wanted the ball more than we did. They went up and got it.”

The play that was not made in the closing seconds unfortunately marred what was a gritty performance by LVC, which was drilled 70-53 by E-town in the first meeting between the two.

This time, though, the Dutchmen, led by Meehan’s 23 points and seven assists and strong performances by Kyle Enoch (18 points) and Eric Humphrey (15 points, seven rebounds) were in the thick of the fight from start to finish.

Two quick 3’s from Enoch to open the game gave LVC an early 6-0 lead, but the Jays were even hotter, draining nine of their first 10 field goal attempts en route to opening up a 22-13 lead seven minutes in.

But LVC stood its ground, and eventually got to the half locked in a 41-41 tie with the help of a dozen points apiece from Meehan and Enoch.

“We kept playing and got back in it,” said McAlester. “I thought we had chances to lead going into half. But we’ve done that, we’ve had a lead in a lot of games and given it back. Usually just from bad plays or a lazy pass.”

“Lebanon Valley, recently, has played everybody tough,” said E-town coach Bob Schlosser. “And they did it to us. I was upset with our guys, but the truth of the matter is you gotta give them some credit. The Meehan kid played an outstanding game; we couldn’t guard him.”

Indeed, it was Meehan who nearly pulled LVC to the finish line in time.

After Cedar Crest grad Kyle McConnell (four points, three rebounds, two assists in 11 minutes) scored in transition to give the Blue Jays a 51-46 lead with 16:12 to go, Meehan led a 20-9 LVC spurt and capped it with a drive to the hoop for two and a 60-56 lead with 7:17 left.

But with E-town staggering a bit and on the ropes, the Dutchmen couldn’t deliver the knockout blow.

And eventually the Jays came back with a flurry of their own, pulling ahead to stay at 72-69 on a Keith Fogel ‘3’ with 2:22 to go.

An Enoch ‘3’ with 27 seconds left and a Meehan bucket with eight ticks remaining, kept the outcome in doubt until Church grabbed the rebound that officially choked the life out of LVC’s season.

“It’s not just that one play,” said McAlester, summing up the game and the season. “We never really put it together. Sometimes that’s how it is.”

From the Lancaster Sunday News:

Elizabethtown clinches conference playoff berth

Men's basketball
Sunday News
Published: Feb 15, 200900:14 EST
Lebanon

By STAFF

Lancaster Mennonite grad Joe Flanagan sank four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points as Elizabethtown clinched a Commonwealth Conference playoff berth Saturday with a 78-74 victory at Lebanon Valley.

Keith Fogel added 17 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:22 left, as the Blue Jays (12-11, 6-5) secured their first postseason appearance since the 2005-06 season.

Elizabethtown shot 50.9 percent (28-of-55) from the field, including a season-high 11 3-pointers, and put the game away with six foul shots in the final minute to sweep the season series with the Dutchmen (11-12, 4-7).

Mike Church (Solanco) hit the clinching free throws with 4.5 seconds left and finished with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Chris Jones drilled all three of his 3-point attempts and finished with a career-high 10 points in 11 minutes off the Blue Jay bench.

Joe Meehan led Lebanon Valley with 23 points while Kyle Enoch (Hempfield) added 18 points and Eric Humphrey chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Dutchmen, who shot 49.1 percent (27-for-55) from the field.

Elizabethtown will wrap up the regular season at 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at home against Arcadia.