The following preview is taken from the E-town College Website:
2008-09 Men's Basketball Preview
It was a tale of two seasons for the Elizabethtown College men's basketball team in 2007-08, as the Blue Jays roared through non-conference play with a 13-1 record and a national ranking, before a series of tight losses led the team to a 2-8 mark in Commonwealth Conference play.
With the loss of the conference's two top scorers to graduation, 19th-year head coach Bob Schlosser will need the rest of the squad to step up if the Blue Jays are to win the scramble for one of four conference playoff spots.
Spearheading the Blue Jay offense will be junior center Mike Church (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco), who averaged 11.7 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game last season while leading the Commonwealth Conference with 36 blocked shots.
The other returning starter is senior point guard Phil Schaffer (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City), who dished out a league-best 114 assists in 24 games (4.75 per game) and was second on the team in steals with 49 while averaging 4.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
Junior forward Josh Houseal (Landisville, PA/Hempfield) will move into the starting lineup full-time after averaging 5.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in just over 20 minutes per game last season.
Sophomore guard Keith Fogel (Mifflinburg, PA/Mifflinburg) led the Etown bench in scoring last season at 5.9 points per game, while shooting 36.8 percent (14-for-38) from three-point range and coming up with 36 steals.
The fifth member of the starting lineup is junior swingman Chris Fairbanks (Lititz, PA/Warwick), who missed all of last season with a knee injury but is back to full strength and expected to play a key role in the Etown attack.
Key bench roles will be played by junior guard Chris Jones (Airville, PA/Kennard-Dale), sophomore guard Joe Flanagan (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) and sophomore center Chris Hill (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty).
Newcomers who could make an impact include guard Kyle McConnell (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) and centers and Bryan Harrity (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks South) and Brian Allport (Quarryville, PA/Solanco).
Elizabethtown opens its 2008 season on Saturday, Nov. 15 hosting Alvernia University in Thompson Gymnasium. Commonwealth Conference action gets underway on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at Lycoming College.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Men's hoops picked sixth in conference poll
From the E-town College Website:
11/10/2008
Men's hoops picked sixth in conference poll
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 10, 2008
Men's Basketball Picked Sixth in Commonwealth Conference Poll
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- The Elizabethtown College men's basketball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Commonwealth Conference preseason coaches' poll, released Monday.
The Blue Jays, who finished 15-9 overall and 2-8 in the conference last season, return two starters and seven letterwinners for head coach Bob Schlosser, who enters his 19th season on the Etown bench with 279 career victories.
Junior center Mike Church (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) is Elizabethtown's top returning scorer after averaging 11.7 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds, while leading the Commonwealth Conference in blocked shots with 36.
Senior point guard Phil Schaffer (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City) added 4.5 points per game and led the conference in assists with 114 in 24 games (4.75 per game).
Expected to round out the starting lineup are junior swingman Chris Fairbanks (Lititz, PA/Warwick), who returns to action after missing last season with a knee injury, junior forward Josh Houseal (Landisville, PA/Hempfield) and sophomore guard Keith Fogel (Mifflinburg, PA/Mifflinburg).
Defending conference champion Widener University earned six of the seven first-place votes and 43 points to take the top spot in the poll, followed by Lycoming College (34 points), Lebanon Valley College and Albright College (32 points each), Messiah College (21 points), Elizabethtown (19 points) and newcomer Arcadia University (15 points).
Elizabethtown opens its 2008-09 season on Saturday, Nov. 15 hosting Alvernia University at 3:00 p.m. in Thompson Gymnasium.
11/10/2008
Men's hoops picked sixth in conference poll
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 10, 2008
Men's Basketball Picked Sixth in Commonwealth Conference Poll
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- The Elizabethtown College men's basketball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Commonwealth Conference preseason coaches' poll, released Monday.
The Blue Jays, who finished 15-9 overall and 2-8 in the conference last season, return two starters and seven letterwinners for head coach Bob Schlosser, who enters his 19th season on the Etown bench with 279 career victories.
Junior center Mike Church (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) is Elizabethtown's top returning scorer after averaging 11.7 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds, while leading the Commonwealth Conference in blocked shots with 36.
Senior point guard Phil Schaffer (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City) added 4.5 points per game and led the conference in assists with 114 in 24 games (4.75 per game).
Expected to round out the starting lineup are junior swingman Chris Fairbanks (Lititz, PA/Warwick), who returns to action after missing last season with a knee injury, junior forward Josh Houseal (Landisville, PA/Hempfield) and sophomore guard Keith Fogel (Mifflinburg, PA/Mifflinburg).
Defending conference champion Widener University earned six of the seven first-place votes and 43 points to take the top spot in the poll, followed by Lycoming College (34 points), Lebanon Valley College and Albright College (32 points each), Messiah College (21 points), Elizabethtown (19 points) and newcomer Arcadia University (15 points).
Elizabethtown opens its 2008-09 season on Saturday, Nov. 15 hosting Alvernia University at 3:00 p.m. in Thompson Gymnasium.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
E-town hopes for stronger finishes
From today's Lancaster Sunday News:
E-town hopes for stronger finishes
Last year, the Blue Jays' men's and women's teams faded after fast starts.
Sunday News
Published: Nov 09, 200800:13 EST
Elizabethtown
By MIKE GROSS, Assistant Sports Editor
Last season did not end happily for Elizabethtown College's men's and women's basketball teams.
Usually if the Blue Jays perform well in the non-conference portion of their schedule, they can handle most of what they face in the Commonwealth Conference.
Last year the men started 13-1, the last of those an 80-69 not-that-close flogging of then-nationally ranked DeSales. The Jays also handled local Division II rival Millersville.
Then they dropped, over the course of six days, overtime decisions at Lycoming and Albright, and the roof caved.
E-town finished 15-9 overall, but an incredible 2-8 in the Commonwealth.
It wasn't quite so dramatic for the women, but they were 6-2 at one point, and 8-4 as late as Jan. 19, before falling to 11-14 overall and, again, 2-8 in the Commonwealth.
"If we had it to do over, we'd emphasize conditioning and developing the bench a little more," men's coach Bob Schlosser said Wednesday. "I'm not totally sure, though, that we'd do a whole lot differently."
Schlosser's club loses its two leading scorers, Mike Schatzmann and Chad Piersol, who combined to average nearly 38 per game.
It's probably not as gloomy as all this sounds. Schlosser appears to have enough talent to play his beloved, tempo-pushing style. The Jays scrimmaged Dickinson, which should be pretty good, last week and fared well.
"I liked what I saw," Schlosser said. "We don't change the way we play, and I think we'll be able to pressure the ball more effectively and maybe be better defensively."
Point guard Phil Schaffer, chief provider of energy and grit, returns. Local kids Mike Church (Solanco) and Josh Houseal (Hempfield), both 6-5, are back, as is Keith Fogel, a combo-guard contributor last year as a freshman. Now he'll start at 2-guard.
Chris Fairbanks, a 6-3 junior who missed last year with a torn knee ligament, will be the fifth starter.
That's a workable first five. Church (11.7 ppg last year), Vogel and Fairbanks should be able to replace the Schatzmann/Piersol points, while Schaffer and Houseal take care of the blue-collar stuff.
The bench includes two kids Schlosser is sure can help: Sophomore Joe Flanagan (Lancaster Mennonite), who played some last year, and freshman point guard Kyle McConnell (Cedar Crest), an energetic, athletic, strong little guy who seems like Schlosser's type of player.
The E-town women will miss guard Erin Walton, who graduated with 1,702 career points, making her the second-leading scorer in the history of the program.
And this program has some history. Coach Yvonne Kauffman, in her 39th season, is 640-279, and has won two national championships.
It hasn't been like that lately, though.
These Jays might be oriented toward three-point arc. Senior guard Megan Quinn, the leading returning scorer with 12.2 points per game, made 33 3-pointers last year.
Soph guard Megan Strohman (Lebanon High School), a transfer from Lebanon Valley College who'll be available the second semester, is also a 3-point bomber.
The Jays also have some size. Senior forward Jenn Montague moves into the starting lineup full-time after averaging nine points and six rebounds last year. Newcomers Teanna Ziegler and Kelly Sauerkopf add much-needed size to the frontcourt.
Lycoming stole the men's Commonwealth title with a 7-3 mark a year ago, earning coach Don Friday a new gig at Division I St. Francis. This year's favorite is probably Widener, which returns five starters from a 23-6 team.
No probably about the women's favorite. It's powerful Messiah, which went 10-0 in the league, 30-3 overall a year ago and reached the Division III national championship game.
Both E-town teams open their season Saturday (Nov. 15), the men home with Alvernia (3 p.m.).
The Jays go to Millersville Dec. 3.
The women open the year with a trip to Virginia, facing Randolph-Macon Saturday (3 p.m.) and Lynchburg (1 p.m.) Sunday.
E-town hopes for stronger finishes
Last year, the Blue Jays' men's and women's teams faded after fast starts.
Sunday News
Published: Nov 09, 200800:13 EST
Elizabethtown
By MIKE GROSS, Assistant Sports Editor
Last season did not end happily for Elizabethtown College's men's and women's basketball teams.
Usually if the Blue Jays perform well in the non-conference portion of their schedule, they can handle most of what they face in the Commonwealth Conference.
Last year the men started 13-1, the last of those an 80-69 not-that-close flogging of then-nationally ranked DeSales. The Jays also handled local Division II rival Millersville.
Then they dropped, over the course of six days, overtime decisions at Lycoming and Albright, and the roof caved.
E-town finished 15-9 overall, but an incredible 2-8 in the Commonwealth.
It wasn't quite so dramatic for the women, but they were 6-2 at one point, and 8-4 as late as Jan. 19, before falling to 11-14 overall and, again, 2-8 in the Commonwealth.
"If we had it to do over, we'd emphasize conditioning and developing the bench a little more," men's coach Bob Schlosser said Wednesday. "I'm not totally sure, though, that we'd do a whole lot differently."
Schlosser's club loses its two leading scorers, Mike Schatzmann and Chad Piersol, who combined to average nearly 38 per game.
It's probably not as gloomy as all this sounds. Schlosser appears to have enough talent to play his beloved, tempo-pushing style. The Jays scrimmaged Dickinson, which should be pretty good, last week and fared well.
"I liked what I saw," Schlosser said. "We don't change the way we play, and I think we'll be able to pressure the ball more effectively and maybe be better defensively."
Point guard Phil Schaffer, chief provider of energy and grit, returns. Local kids Mike Church (Solanco) and Josh Houseal (Hempfield), both 6-5, are back, as is Keith Fogel, a combo-guard contributor last year as a freshman. Now he'll start at 2-guard.
Chris Fairbanks, a 6-3 junior who missed last year with a torn knee ligament, will be the fifth starter.
That's a workable first five. Church (11.7 ppg last year), Vogel and Fairbanks should be able to replace the Schatzmann/Piersol points, while Schaffer and Houseal take care of the blue-collar stuff.
The bench includes two kids Schlosser is sure can help: Sophomore Joe Flanagan (Lancaster Mennonite), who played some last year, and freshman point guard Kyle McConnell (Cedar Crest), an energetic, athletic, strong little guy who seems like Schlosser's type of player.
The E-town women will miss guard Erin Walton, who graduated with 1,702 career points, making her the second-leading scorer in the history of the program.
And this program has some history. Coach Yvonne Kauffman, in her 39th season, is 640-279, and has won two national championships.
It hasn't been like that lately, though.
These Jays might be oriented toward three-point arc. Senior guard Megan Quinn, the leading returning scorer with 12.2 points per game, made 33 3-pointers last year.
Soph guard Megan Strohman (Lebanon High School), a transfer from Lebanon Valley College who'll be available the second semester, is also a 3-point bomber.
The Jays also have some size. Senior forward Jenn Montague moves into the starting lineup full-time after averaging nine points and six rebounds last year. Newcomers Teanna Ziegler and Kelly Sauerkopf add much-needed size to the frontcourt.
Lycoming stole the men's Commonwealth title with a 7-3 mark a year ago, earning coach Don Friday a new gig at Division I St. Francis. This year's favorite is probably Widener, which returns five starters from a 23-6 team.
No probably about the women's favorite. It's powerful Messiah, which went 10-0 in the league, 30-3 overall a year ago and reached the Division III national championship game.
Both E-town teams open their season Saturday (Nov. 15), the men home with Alvernia (3 p.m.).
The Jays go to Millersville Dec. 3.
The women open the year with a trip to Virginia, facing Randolph-Macon Saturday (3 p.m.) and Lynchburg (1 p.m.) Sunday.
Welcome!
Welcome to my new blog about the E-town College Blue Jays Men's Basketball Team. Over the next 4 years I will blog about any info. I can find related to the team.
Enjoy the seasons to come!
Go Blue Jays!
Enjoy the seasons to come!
Go Blue Jays!
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