Jan 29, 2011
1/29/2011 6:25:59 PM
Box Score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Joe Flanagan and his five senior teammates alike have meant a great deal to the success of Elizabethtown College's men's basketball program over the past few seasons. It was only fitting then that a personal milestone would come during the midst of arguably E-town's best half of basketball this season. Flanagan's 3-pointer with 14:52 remaining catapulted him into the 1,000 point club and Saturday afternoon's game with Alvernia at 39. From there it would be all Blue Jays, as they ripped off bucket after bucket in sending the Crusaders to their first Commonwealth Conference loss of the season, 80-59, at Thompson Gymnasium.
Trailing 32-29 at halftime, Elizabethtown (15-3, 6-2 CC) cranked up the intensity at both ends of the court in the second half. The Jays forced 11 turnovers and outscored Alvernia (12-4, 7-1) 51-27 in the half to close within a game of the Crusaders for the top spot in the league standings.
Flanagan dialed long distance early in the second half, hitting 1,000 points right on the nose. In doing so, he became the 32nd player in program history —and second this season— to achieve the career accomplishment. Shooting guard Keith Fogel buried a 3-pointer for his 1,000th career point back on Jan. 10 against Rutgers-Camden. Together, Flanagan and Fogel are just the third pair of Elizabethtown teammates in the program's 83 year existence to reach 1,000 career points in the same season.
The 1,000th point of Flanagan's career energized E-town's largest crowd this season —at least 1,000 strong— and the Blue Jays rode that emotion to a game-changing 31-9 run over a span of exactly 10 minutes. Fogel led the charge with 12 points in the run, while Flanagan added nine. Kyle McConnell and Andrew Mantz each contributed four and Dan Silver had two. When all was said and done, E-town found itself with a commanding 70-48 lead with 4:52 to go.
A Seth Cornell trey trimmed Elizabethtown's lead to 16, 70-54, just over a minute later, but it was closest Alvernia would get.
There was no foreshadowing to the Crusaders' second half collapse. Playing without the Commonwealth Conference's leading scorer, Charlie Swiggett (suspension), Alvernia rode the hot hand of his replacement in the starting lineup, Stefan Thompson. The 6-foot-2 junior from Philadelphia was cool and composed in his first start of the season. He scored 13 points in a 4-of-7 effort from the floor over the opening 20 minutes.
Thompson's performance, coupled with that of teammate Cory Boone (10 first half points) and a swarming defense, allowed the visitors to cling to a 32-29 edge at the break. With Cornell draped on Fogel, E-town's top two scorers combined to score just two points in the half on 1-of-13 shooting.
Change was in full effect after halftime, though, as Flanagan and Fogel saw their production flip 180 degrees. The two seniors would answer by combining to go 12-of-17 for 31 points in the second half.
Flanagan finished with a game-high 21 points, reaching the 20-point plateau for the second straight game and third time this season. Brian Allport snuck in a solid outing with 13 points and seven board, while Fogel (12), McConnell (11) and Mantz (10) rounded out E-town's contingent of double-figure scorers.
Bryan Harrity took only two shots, and didn't score, but that didn't stop him from collecting a team-best nine rebounds. Mark Vogel came off the bench to score seven points, all in the first half.
The Blue Jays, who have now won five in a row, are undoubtedly happy to see Boone off their schedule for the rest of the 2010-11 regular season. The 6-foot-8 big man has been a thorn in E-town's side during the teams' two meetings. Saturday he finished with a team-high 19 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Coupled with his performance in Reading earlier this month, Boone averaged 18 points and 10.5 rebounds per game against the Jays.
E-town shot 46.2 percent (30-of-65) for the game and hit 10 threes. It was the second straight game in which the Blue Jays hit 10 triples, and they've now hit 10 or more five different times this season. To no one's surprise, they are 5-0 in those games.
There's no time for rest, as Elizabethtown looks to turn the script on Messiah Tuesday night at 8 p.m., at Thompson Gymnasium. The Jays dropped a 68-66 heartbreaker at Grantham back on Jan. 12.
NOTES:
The other two pairs of Elizabethtown men's basketball players that have reached 1,000 career points in the same season are: Fred Wittich (1,217)/Paul Cuttic (1,130) in 1975-76 and Tom Kufufa (1,608)/Ron Urich (1,089) in 1992-93...Elizabethtown remains unbeaten at home this season (10-0)...The Blue Jays are 8-0 when scoring 80 points or more this season.
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Joe Flanagan and his five senior teammates alike have meant a great deal to the success of Elizabethtown College's men's basketball program over the past few seasons. It was only fitting then that a personal milestone would come during the midst of arguably E-town's best half of basketball this season. Flanagan's 3-pointer with 14:52 remaining catapulted him into the 1,000 point club and Saturday afternoon's game with Alvernia at 39. From there it would be all Blue Jays, as they ripped off bucket after bucket in sending the Crusaders to their first Commonwealth Conference loss of the season, 80-59, at Thompson Gymnasium.
Trailing 32-29 at halftime, Elizabethtown (15-3, 6-2 CC) cranked up the intensity at both ends of the court in the second half. The Jays forced 11 turnovers and outscored Alvernia (12-4, 7-1) 51-27 in the half to close within a game of the Crusaders for the top spot in the league standings.
Flanagan dialed long distance early in the second half, hitting 1,000 points right on the nose. In doing so, he became the 32nd player in program history —and second this season— to achieve the career accomplishment. Shooting guard Keith Fogel buried a 3-pointer for his 1,000th career point back on Jan. 10 against Rutgers-Camden. Together, Flanagan and Fogel are just the third pair of Elizabethtown teammates in the program's 83 year existence to reach 1,000 career points in the same season.
The 1,000th point of Flanagan's career energized E-town's largest crowd this season —at least 1,000 strong— and the Blue Jays rode that emotion to a game-changing 31-9 run over a span of exactly 10 minutes. Fogel led the charge with 12 points in the run, while Flanagan added nine. Kyle McConnell and Andrew Mantz each contributed four and Dan Silver had two. When all was said and done, E-town found itself with a commanding 70-48 lead with 4:52 to go.
A Seth Cornell trey trimmed Elizabethtown's lead to 16, 70-54, just over a minute later, but it was closest Alvernia would get.
There was no foreshadowing to the Crusaders' second half collapse. Playing without the Commonwealth Conference's leading scorer, Charlie Swiggett (suspension), Alvernia rode the hot hand of his replacement in the starting lineup, Stefan Thompson. The 6-foot-2 junior from Philadelphia was cool and composed in his first start of the season. He scored 13 points in a 4-of-7 effort from the floor over the opening 20 minutes.
Thompson's performance, coupled with that of teammate Cory Boone (10 first half points) and a swarming defense, allowed the visitors to cling to a 32-29 edge at the break. With Cornell draped on Fogel, E-town's top two scorers combined to score just two points in the half on 1-of-13 shooting.
Change was in full effect after halftime, though, as Flanagan and Fogel saw their production flip 180 degrees. The two seniors would answer by combining to go 12-of-17 for 31 points in the second half.
Flanagan finished with a game-high 21 points, reaching the 20-point plateau for the second straight game and third time this season. Brian Allport snuck in a solid outing with 13 points and seven board, while Fogel (12), McConnell (11) and Mantz (10) rounded out E-town's contingent of double-figure scorers.
Bryan Harrity took only two shots, and didn't score, but that didn't stop him from collecting a team-best nine rebounds. Mark Vogel came off the bench to score seven points, all in the first half.
The Blue Jays, who have now won five in a row, are undoubtedly happy to see Boone off their schedule for the rest of the 2010-11 regular season. The 6-foot-8 big man has been a thorn in E-town's side during the teams' two meetings. Saturday he finished with a team-high 19 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Coupled with his performance in Reading earlier this month, Boone averaged 18 points and 10.5 rebounds per game against the Jays.
E-town shot 46.2 percent (30-of-65) for the game and hit 10 threes. It was the second straight game in which the Blue Jays hit 10 triples, and they've now hit 10 or more five different times this season. To no one's surprise, they are 5-0 in those games.
There's no time for rest, as Elizabethtown looks to turn the script on Messiah Tuesday night at 8 p.m., at Thompson Gymnasium. The Jays dropped a 68-66 heartbreaker at Grantham back on Jan. 12.
NOTES:
The other two pairs of Elizabethtown men's basketball players that have reached 1,000 career points in the same season are: Fred Wittich (1,217)/Paul Cuttic (1,130) in 1975-76 and Tom Kufufa (1,608)/Ron Urich (1,089) in 1992-93...Elizabethtown remains unbeaten at home this season (10-0)...The Blue Jays are 8-0 when scoring 80 points or more this season.