Ford brothers lift Nazareth past Elizabethtown, 84-65

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HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Nazareth's Ford brothers -- senior Brad and sophomore Mitch -- combined to score 48 points Monday for the Golden Flyers, who defeated Elizabethtown, 84-65, in the opening men's basketball game of the Doc Greene Tournament at Juniata.

The victory boosted the Golden Flyers' record to 5-2 and pushed them into Tuesday's tournament championship game at 4 p.m. They will play the winner of Monday's nightcap between host Juniata and Pitt.-Greensburg. Elizabethtown (4-5) will play in Tuesday's consolation game at 2 p.m.

Mitch Ford scored a career-high 27 points to lead all scorers Monday. He made 13 of 14 shots from the field and grabbed eight rebounds. Brad Ford added 21 points, marking the fifth time in seven games this season that he's surpassed 20 points. He made 6 of 14 shots from the field, including five three-pointers, and matched his brother's rebound total with eight.

Nazareth made 32 of 61 shots (.525) overall, including 8 of 24 three-point attempts. Senior Scott Hayford contributed 18 points and senior point guard Jack Giles had 10 points with seven rebounds and seven assists.

Elizabethtown scored the first basket of the game, but Nazareth recovered nicely by scoring nine straight points to take control early. Hayford and Giles each canned jump shots and Brad Ford followed with a three-point basket. Sophomore Maurice Mills capped the early run with a basket to give Nazareth a 9-2 advantage less than four minutes in.

Nazareth's first-half lead grew as large as 13 points, 24-11, following a three-point basket by Hayford with 11:36 to go. A 19-9 scoring run by Elizabethtown trimmed Nazareth's lead to three, 33-30, with less than three minutes to play. Nazareth interrupted the spree with a basket by Mills and a three-pointer by Brad Ford before settling for a 40-34 lead at the halftime break.

Nazareth was comfortably ahead in the second half as Mitch Ford sank all eight of his field goal attempts to record 17 of his points. It was back-to-back field goals by Mitch Ford that enabled Nazareth to regain its double-digit lead for good at 53-42 with 14:18 to play.

Nazareth stayed on top by sinking foul shots down the stretch. Giles went 5-for-6 from the line in the final 2:06 to preserve the lead and Brad Ford canned 3 of 4 shots.

In addition to shooting better than 50 percent from the field, Nazareth also enjoyed a 38-22 rebounding advantage. Lee Eckert was Elizabethtown's high scorer with 18 points.