Schlosser Earns 300th Win as Blue Jays Defeat Royals, 63-52

From the E-town College Website:

Box score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Keith Fogel scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second half as Elizabethtown College defeated the University of Scranton 63-52 in non-conference men's basketball action at Thompson Gymnasium on Saturday night, giving Blue Jay head coach Bob Schlosser his 300th career victory.

Schlosser has a 300-201 record in his 20th season with the Blue Jays, and ranks second in program history behind the 331 wins amassed by Don Smith from 1954-64 and 1972-88. Following the game, his players presented him with the game ball and a plaque commemorating the milestone victory.

Mike Church and Joe Flanagan each scored 14 points apiece for the Blue Jays (7-3 overall), while Eli Londo paced the Royals (6-3 overall) with game highs of 19 points and 12 rebounds.

The Royals self-destructed in the first half, finishing with more turnovers (18) than points (17) and going 8 minutes, 48 seconds without a point as the Blue Jays turned a 13-9 deficit into a 21-13 lead.

The Blue Jays held a 28-17 lead at intermission behind 12 points from Church, while Londo led the Royals with eight points and four rebounds. Both teams struggled from the field in the opening half, as Elizabethtown shot 10-for-27 (37 percent) overall and 1-for-8 from three-point range while Scranton hit 38.1 percent (8-for-21) and 1-for-7 from beyond the arc.

Elizabethtown built its lead to as many as 12 points early in the second half, and held a 38-28 advantage with 16:20 to go before Scranton went on a 12-4 run to whittle the deficit to 42-40 with 11:03 left on a three-pointer by Londo.

A basket by Church and a three-pointer by Fogel pushed the Blue Jay advantage back to eight points (48-40) with 8:49 to go, but the Royals crept back within four at 55-51 on a layup by Zach Ashworth with 2:31 left. However, it would be Scranton's last field goal of the game as the Blue Jays finished with an 8-1 run that featured four free throws by Fogel and breakaway layups by Josh Houseal and Kyle McConnell.

Overall, Elizabethtown finished at 40.4 percent (23-for-57) from the field and went 13-for-20 from the foul line, while Scranton connected at 41.7 percent (20-for-48) overall and 9-for-12 at the line. Scranton held a 37-33 edge in rebounding and finished with 28 turnovers to 16 by Elizabethtown.

Ashworth, who entered the game leading the Landmark Conference in scoring at 18.4 points per game and in three-pointers per game (2.75), went 0-for-6 from beyond the arc and finished with 11 points, with seven coming in the final five minutes.

From the University of Scranton Website:

Elizabethtown Holds Off Second-Half Rally To Defeat Royals, 63-52, Saturday Evening; Londo Paces Scranton With Career-Highs of 19 Points and 12 Rebounds

December 12, 2009

Box Score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa.-The University of Scranton's bid to fight back from an 11-point halftime deficit fell short against Elizabethtown College Saturday evening at Thompson Gymnasium.

The Royals closed to within two, 42-40, before the Blue Jays ended the game on a 21-12 run to hold on for a 63-52 victory. Junior guard Keith Fogel (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) led Elizabethtown, now 7-3, with 16 points and senior center Mike Church (Peach Bottom, Pa./Solanco) and junior guards Joe Flanagan (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) added 14 points apiece.

Senior forward Eli Londo (Hamlin, Pa./North Pocono) posted his third ‘double-double' of his career with 19 points and 12 rebounds-posting a career-high in points and tying his career-high in rebounds-and junior guard Zach Ashworth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) added 11 points for the Royals, who turned the ball over a season-high 28 times.

It was turnovers that dug a huge hole for Scranton in the first half. The Royals managed to build up an early 13-9 lead, but turned the ball over 11 times in the final 12 minutes of play, which sparked a 19-4 rally by the Blue Jays en route to a 28-17 lead by intermission. Scranton compounded its problems by shooting only 38 percent from the field, including 14.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, in the opening 20 minutes.

The Royals, who shot nearly 45 percent from the field in the second half to jump start its offense, got to within two on a 3-pointer by Londo to cap off a 23-14 rally with 11:02 remaining. Flanagan, Church and Fogel then combined for nine points during a 13-4 spurt over the next six minutes to stretch Elizabethtown's lead to 11, 55-44, with 5:42 remaining.

Scranton made one last-ditch effort to pull out the win, as Ashworth scored six straight points during an 8-2 run to cut the margin to four, 55-51, with 2:31 left. The Royals, however, committed two costly turnovers and back-to-back lay-ups by Blue Jay senior forward Josh Houseal (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) and sophomore Kyle McConnell (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) helped seal the victory.

The win was number 300 for veteran head coach Bob Schlosser, now in his 20th season at Elizabethtown. He is now 300-201 (.599) in his collegiate career.

The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for the Royals, now 6-3. Scranton will close out a two-game road trip this Tuesday, December 15, against Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, beginning at 8:00 p.m.

News & Notes: Scranton still leads the all-time series with Elizabethtown, 44-18, but the Blue Jays have now won five of the last eight meetings...Londo's previous career-high of 17 points came against Albright on December 13, 2008, at the Long Center and earlier this year against Bard College, also at the Long Center...Londo connected on 8 of 12 shots from the field, but the rest of the Royals went a combined 12-for-36 (33.3 percent)...Scranton shot a season-low 17.6 percent (3 of 17) from the 3-point arc...the Royals previous season-high for turnovers was 27 in a 96-77 loss to then 2nd-ranked John Carroll in the championship game of the Radisson Invitational on Sunday, November 22...all three of Londo's ‘double-doubles' in points and rebounds have come this year.

From the Lancaster Sunday News:

E-town's Schlosser collects 300th win
Former players gave him a standing ovation after 63-52 triumph over Scranton.

Sunday News

Elizabethtown

By JASON GUARENTE, Correspondent

For Bob Schlosser, the number, however big and round, was secondary to the way it was achieved.

The coach came to Elizabethtown in 1990 hoping to build a program on the foundation of two principles: playing hard and playing together.

Twenty seasons later, that approach produced Schlosser's 300th win at the school.

E-town College knocked off Scranton, 63-52, in a non-conference men's basketball game at Thompson Gym Saturday night.

It was a victory for a lifetime coach to savor.

"Now that it has been 20 years here, you start to appreciate it a little bit more," Schlosser said. "Now it starts to really sink in. This is special. It really is.

"I just feel proud of the fact that we built a program. There are a lot of people who had their hand in it. That's what's important, the relationships that you build with players and coaches."

Schlosser has a 300-201 record in his 20 seasons at E-town. He ranks second on the school's all-time win list behind Don Smith, who has 331.

The magnitude of the accomplishment wasn't lost on Elizabethtown's players. They gathered around their coach and posed for pictures after the game.

"It's a huge thing," said senior Mike Church, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds. "That's a huge milestone at any coaching level. He's got that system and he's done it for a long time. Because of that, he has 300 wins."

E-town's players registered No. 300 by relying on sheer effort to overcome their cold shooting (37.5 percent) and occasional lack of execution.

In other words, they won by playing hard and playing together.

The Blue Jays took the lead for good with a suffocating 12-0 run in the first half. They held Scranton without a point for a span of 8:46 as they built a 21-13 advantage.

The combination of E-town's pressure and Scranton's sloppiness created 18 turnovers and resulted in just 17 points for the Royals in the first half. E-town turned those turnovers into 15 points and led by 11 at intermission.

"We weren't shooting the ball well," Schlosser said. "At least our pressure was causing them to turn it over and not get into any kind of flow. Our intensity and our pressure kept us in the lead even through the later stages of the game."

Although Scranton overcame its early struggles and hung close in the second half, the Royals were never able to pull even. The closest they came was 42-40 after Dan Hilferty and Eli Londo hit consecutive 3-pointers with 11 minutes remaining.

E-town responded with another stretch of shut-down defense. The Jays held Scranton to one field goal over the next 4:52 to quickly extend the lead back to 11 points. It was never closer than four points the rest of the way.

Keith Fogel scored 12 of his career-high 16 points in the second half for E-town. Lancaster Mennonite grad Joe Flanagan added 14 points.

"Tonight's game was not a pretty win," said Schlosser, whose team improved to 7-3. "But I think our energy and our intensity got us the 'W.' We didn't shoot it well. We had some breakdowns defensively, but we're a team that always plays with a lot of fire. I think tonight that was the difference."

Schlosser downplayed the importance of No. 300 in the days leading up to this game. He didn't want to put the focus on a personal achievement when his team was seeking its collective goals for the season.

After the win was in the books, Schlosser was awarded a plaque and a game ball. Some of his former players gave him a standing ovation from the bleachers.

It was evidence that the coach was right. Milestones are more than numbers. They're about the people you meet along the way.