Box Score (SIDEARM) | Box Score (Stat Crew)

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — After relinquishing a halftime lead early in the second half Tuesday night, the Elizabethtown College men's basketball fought out of a 12-point hole to defeat Stevenson, 78-76, in a nail-biter for its first win of the season.

Heading into the second half of their game against Stevenson, the Elizabethtown men's basketball team went to the locker room with a 37-35 lead on the strength of 11 points each from sophomore guards Joe Schwalm and Steve Ennis. Shortly after returning to the floor, the Blue Jays (1-3) found themselves with their backs to the wall, playing from behind.

The Jays grinded it out, slowly shortening the margin between themselves and the Mustangs (!-3). Phil Wenger sank a critical three-point shot with under five minutes to go in the game that brought the teams even at 65. Less than a minute later, E-town grabbed the lead once again. Andrew Mantz put the team on his back with a 3-point play and a jumper in the paint on consecutive possessions to stretch the lead to five, 70-65.

Kyle McConnell, whose notoriety Tuesday came in the form of his third career double figure-assist game, hit 1-of-2 free throws with 2:40 left to make it a six-point edge. Stevenson wouldn't go quietly though. Joe Hindle and Brandon Carroll each hit 3-pointers around a layup from each side to draw Stevenson within two at 75-73 with 25 ticks to go. Hindle would drain another from outside —one of the Mustangs' 13 3-pointers (13-of-22, 59.1%)— to close the gap to one in the final ten seconds.

After Ennis hit 1-of-2 from the line, Stevenson was left with four seconds left to tie or win it. The home team did neither, Schwalm forcing SU's 23rd turnover of the night as time expired.

Schwalm led the Blue Jays in scoring with 20. The sophomore has been opportunistic and efficient throughout his first four appearances in blue and gray. Schwalm has on over 56 percent of his field goal attempts and over 47 percent of his 3-point attempts. Tuesday he was 4-of-5 from deep.

Ennis set a new career-high with 14 points at night's end. Mantz had 13 points and six rebounds, and Wenger finished up with 11 points.

The Jays spread their scoring amongst eight players, and got solid support from the bench. E-town held a 37-25 advantage in bench points after going plus-13 (21-8) in the first half.

McConnell tallied 10 assists to lead all players. The senior point guard last amassed 10 or more assists in a game Jan. 19, 2011, when he had 12 against Lycoming. He's already averaging better than seven per game in the early going.

The Jays will take to the road to end the month, this time beginning conference play in Glenside as they take on Arcadia on November 30th. The team will tip-off again at home December 3rd in a conference showdown with Messiah.