Blue Jays defeat Arcadia, 71-49 to take third place

From the E-town College Website:

2/21/2009

Men's basketball defeats Arcadia, 71-49 to take third place

ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 21, 2009

Elizabethtown 71, Arcadia 49

Click here for the box score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College outscored Arcadia University 42-23 in the second half to pick up a 71-49 victory in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Thompson Gymnasium.

Combined with Widener University's 77-58 win at Messiah College, the Blue Jays (13-11 overall, 7-5 Commonwealth) clinched the third seed in the Commonwealth Conference tournament and will travel to second-seeded Albright College on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in a semifinal game.

Mike Church (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) finished with a game-high 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Blue Jays while Joe Flanagan (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) added 14 points as Elizabethtown shot 56.5 percent (13-for-23) from the field in the second half to turn a 29-26 halftime lead into a 22-point victory.

Phil Schaffer (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City), the lone senior on the Elizabethtown roster, grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds from his point guard position, while addeing five points and a game-high six assists in 26 minutes of playing time.

Bobby Mulholland was the lone player to score in double figures for the Knights (8-17 overall, 3-9 Commonwealth) as he finished with 12 points, but Arcadia shot 37.7 percent (20-for-53) from the field and committed 21 turnovers to end the season with their sixth consecutive loss.

Elizabethtown led for all but 28 seconds early in the first half, taking the lead for good at 7-6 just four minutes into the game. The Blue Jays built a 25-15 lead with 5:28 to play in the first half, but the Knights rallied to cut the deficit to 29-26 at halftime as Mulholland led Arcadia with seven points. Church led all players in the first half with 12 points, while Schaffer grabbed eight rebounds.

The Blue Jays opened the second half by scoring nine straight points to go ahead 38-26 with 15:15 to go. Elizabethtown poured it on in the closing minutes, using a 17-6 run to take their largest lead of the afternoon at 71-43 with 1:42 left.

Chris Jones (Airville, PA/Kennard-Dale) matched his career high of 10 points set in the Blue Jays' last game at Lebanon Valley College, and connected on both of his three-point attempts to extend his streak of consecutive made three-pointers to seven, spanning Elizabethtown's last four games.

Josh Houseal (Landisville, PA/Hempfield) added 11 points and four boards for the Blue Jays, who went 18-for-25 from the foul line as a team including 12-for-17 in the second half.

From the Arcadia University Website:

Knights Drop Season Closer to Elizabethtown

ELIZABETHTOWN, PA: 2/21/07 - Arcadia Men's Basketball shot 38% from the field and went just 4-19 from long range as the Blue Jays of Elizabethtown College held the Knights to their lowest offensive output of the season in today's 71-49 win for the playoff-bound Blue Jays.

Arcadia closes out the 2008-09 season with an 8-17 overall mark and 3-9 against their Commonwealth opponents.

The Knights led for just 28 seconds, on a duece from senior Bobby Mulholland at 17:30 of the first half. While Elizabethtown would stay in front for the remainder of the half, Arcadia erased the Blue Jays 10 point lead to three at the half, 29-26 Etown. But the home team would regain that ten point lead and thensome, as Arcadia's offense sputtered in it's season finale, including a 56% showing at the free throw line.

Mulholland finished his last collegiate game with a team high 12 points for the Knights. He added 3 boards, 2 assists and a steal. Freshman Aquil Cook added 8 points for the Knights. Seniors Terrel Varnado and Blaise Pepitone also played their final games for Arcadia. Varnado scored 4 points, pulled down 5 rebounds, dished out 2 assists and made 2 steals while Pepitone added 5 points in 1 rebound.

The victors were led by four players earning double figure scoring including 16 points from Mike Church and 14 from this week's league player of the week, Joe Flanagan. Etown's Phil Schaeffer earned a game high 12 rebounds.