Jan 18, 2012
Box Score (Stat Crew) | Box Score (SIDEARM)
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Natural scorers have a way of putting tough games behind them in an instant. It's no surprise then that Elizabethtown College sophomore Joe Schwalm responded the way he did in Wednesday night's Commonwealth Conference men's basketball match-up against Lebanon Valley. The Halifax native poured in 21 points after being shutout this past Saturday, and his huge effort, plus a double-double from Andrew Mantz, gave E-town a 74-61 victory at Thompson Gymnasium.
Big nights for Schwalm and Mantz looked promising from the get go. Elizabethtown's (6-9, 2-3 CC) leading scorer at 11.7 points per game coming into Wednesday, Schwalm scored the first 10 Blue Jay points of the night, before handing things over to his front court mate, Mantz. The 6-7 big man followed up Schwalm's start with six straight points of his own, as the Jays and Flying Dutchmen (9-7, 2-3 CC) were all tied up at 16 nearly eight minutes in.
The 74-61 final tally was not indicitive of how closely the two rivals fought for much of the game. Neither team pulled ahead by more than six points in the first half, with the lead changing hands seven times. Head coach Bob Schlosser got strong production from his bench to the tune of 16 points. Seven of those points were scored by local product, and Hempfield graduate, Lee Eckert. Six more came off the 3-point shooting prowess of his son, Will Schlosser.
Even though the Blue Jays were called for 12 first half fouls to three for LVC, they managed to keep their heads in the game and hold the Flying Dutchmen scoreless over the final 1:27, thus taking a 35-32 lead to halftime.
E-town turned the tables on its misfortunes from the Albright game, and this time it was the agressor to start the second half. Ben Cable, Schwalm and Schlosser nailed 3-pointers. Kyle McConnell and Schwalm both hit 2-point shots and Mantz added two free throws as the E-town lead escalated to 13, 50-47, by the 13:50 mark.
Lebanon Valley, rostering the top two players in scoring average in the Commonwealth Conference, could not come up with an answer for E-town's speed and depth. It wasn't until there was only 2:50 to play that the visitors finally got the lead back to single digits, and even then, they never got it below eight points.
Joe Meehan, the No. 2 point producer in the league, was held 10 points under his 18.3 point-per-game average with just eight. It was only the third time this season Meehan has been held to under 10 points in a game. Leading scorer Danny Brooks got his quota, scoring 18 (two off his 20.6 ppg average), but did so on 7-of-14 shooting. Brooks was outplayed by Mantz, who grabbed 12 rebounds to Brooks' four. A 6-foot-6 junior, Brooks came in to Wednesday averaging over 10 boards per contest.
Elizabethtown, which claimed its 67th victory against LVC in 116 all-time meetings, got points from 10 different players. Schwalm grabbed eight rebounds and finished the game 9-of-17 from the floor and 3-of-6 from long distance. Mantz took home his fifth double-double of the season with a 12-point, 12 board night and blocked two shots as well.
The Blue Jays also got 13 points from Will Schlosser, as well as six points and three dimes from McConnell, who returned to play 24 minutes after being slowed by an injury Saturday. McConnell's three assists bumped him over the 300 mark for his career and moved him to within three of Aaron Blanding and Greg Adams on E-town's all-time top 10 list. Blanding and Adams each racked up 305 assists in their E-town careers.
Next up on the goal sheet for the Jays is a return to .500 in league play. E-town gets its shot to do just that Saturday when it hosts Alvernia at 3 p.m.
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Natural scorers have a way of putting tough games behind them in an instant. It's no surprise then that Elizabethtown College sophomore Joe Schwalm responded the way he did in Wednesday night's Commonwealth Conference men's basketball match-up against Lebanon Valley. The Halifax native poured in 21 points after being shutout this past Saturday, and his huge effort, plus a double-double from Andrew Mantz, gave E-town a 74-61 victory at Thompson Gymnasium.
Big nights for Schwalm and Mantz looked promising from the get go. Elizabethtown's (6-9, 2-3 CC) leading scorer at 11.7 points per game coming into Wednesday, Schwalm scored the first 10 Blue Jay points of the night, before handing things over to his front court mate, Mantz. The 6-7 big man followed up Schwalm's start with six straight points of his own, as the Jays and Flying Dutchmen (9-7, 2-3 CC) were all tied up at 16 nearly eight minutes in.
The 74-61 final tally was not indicitive of how closely the two rivals fought for much of the game. Neither team pulled ahead by more than six points in the first half, with the lead changing hands seven times. Head coach Bob Schlosser got strong production from his bench to the tune of 16 points. Seven of those points were scored by local product, and Hempfield graduate, Lee Eckert. Six more came off the 3-point shooting prowess of his son, Will Schlosser.
Even though the Blue Jays were called for 12 first half fouls to three for LVC, they managed to keep their heads in the game and hold the Flying Dutchmen scoreless over the final 1:27, thus taking a 35-32 lead to halftime.
E-town turned the tables on its misfortunes from the Albright game, and this time it was the agressor to start the second half. Ben Cable, Schwalm and Schlosser nailed 3-pointers. Kyle McConnell and Schwalm both hit 2-point shots and Mantz added two free throws as the E-town lead escalated to 13, 50-47, by the 13:50 mark.
Lebanon Valley, rostering the top two players in scoring average in the Commonwealth Conference, could not come up with an answer for E-town's speed and depth. It wasn't until there was only 2:50 to play that the visitors finally got the lead back to single digits, and even then, they never got it below eight points.
Joe Meehan, the No. 2 point producer in the league, was held 10 points under his 18.3 point-per-game average with just eight. It was only the third time this season Meehan has been held to under 10 points in a game. Leading scorer Danny Brooks got his quota, scoring 18 (two off his 20.6 ppg average), but did so on 7-of-14 shooting. Brooks was outplayed by Mantz, who grabbed 12 rebounds to Brooks' four. A 6-foot-6 junior, Brooks came in to Wednesday averaging over 10 boards per contest.
Elizabethtown, which claimed its 67th victory against LVC in 116 all-time meetings, got points from 10 different players. Schwalm grabbed eight rebounds and finished the game 9-of-17 from the floor and 3-of-6 from long distance. Mantz took home his fifth double-double of the season with a 12-point, 12 board night and blocked two shots as well.
The Blue Jays also got 13 points from Will Schlosser, as well as six points and three dimes from McConnell, who returned to play 24 minutes after being slowed by an injury Saturday. McConnell's three assists bumped him over the 300 mark for his career and moved him to within three of Aaron Blanding and Greg Adams on E-town's all-time top 10 list. Blanding and Adams each racked up 305 assists in their E-town careers.
Next up on the goal sheet for the Jays is a return to .500 in league play. E-town gets its shot to do just that Saturday when it hosts Alvernia at 3 p.m.