Jan 15, 2014
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GLENSIDE, Pa. – Two areas keeping Elizabethtown men's basketball from the team it wants to be this season are defense and foul shooting. The Blue Jays took care of both Wednesday evening and Lee Eckert scored 21 points in a 70-59 Commonwealth Conference road victory at Arcadia.
Four of Elizabethtown's last five opponents were able to top the 80-point mark, but the Jays made sure that would not happen again. They were deliberate with their possessions on offense, contested the Knights closely on defense and kept second chances to a minimum.
In allowing 59 points, the Blue Jays (6-8, 3-4 CC) turned in their second best defensive effort of the year. E-town held Gettysburg to 55 in the season opener.
Elizabethtown trailed for just 25 seconds in the first half, responding to Arcadia's opening basket from Justin Trojanowski with a 7-0 run. The Knights were knocking at the door after scoring five in a row to trail by a single point, 13-12, with 10:48 to go in the half, but Phil Wenger, Lee Eckert and Andrew Mantz all found baskets around the rim in piecing together an 8-0 spurt that ran the visitors' lead back to 21-12.
Over the final 6:36 of the half, Arcadia managed seven shots, hitting only three and turning it over three times. Eckert would lead the Jays to the locker room with 10 points and a 32-22 lead. The 22 points were the fewest allowed by E-town in a half this season and the second fewest scored in a period for the Knights.
Phil Wenger, one of the frontrunners in the Commonwealth Conference in assist per game (5.0), picked up his fifth of the night on the Blue Jays' first possession of the second half when he found Mantz for three of his 18 points.
Eckert increased E-town's lead to 13, 37-24, before Trojanowski scored five straight and the Knights' outside shooting picked up.
Aaron Lee-Webb, Joe Brown and Torrell Candelaria connected on three consecutive chances in less than two minutes, and Rashon Brock's dunk with 12:01 to play tied the game at 42. Prior to string of triples, Arcadia had misfired on all seven of its 3-point tries.
Brown hit 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to give Arcadia a brief 43-42 lead, but Elizabethtown had plenty left in its collective tank, charging back with a 12-2 run in which Eckert and Tommy James converted a pair of and-1's.
Arcadia, already trying to dig out of a hole in conference play, drew within a deuce on a layup from Brown with 4:49 left, but E-town pushed its lead back to eight by scoring eight of the next 10 points.
Down the stretch the Blue Jays were clutch at the foul line. Mantz and Wenger hit each of their four attempts to hold the lead. Elizabethtown shot a season-best 81.3% from the line, going 13-of-16. All of its free throw attempts came in the second half.
Eckert's breakout season continued. Not only were his 21 points a game-high, but the junior nailed 10-of-14 shots. Already leading the Commonwealth Conference in field goal percentage at 61.9%, the Hempfield product only bettered it with a 71.4% performance Wednesday.
Mantz did his share down low, hitting 6-of-10 attempts. He was also 1-of-2 from 3-point range and 5-of-6 at the foul line. Wenger gave E-town three double figure scorers with 12 points and dished out a game-high eight assists. James, who drew his first career start, scored seven points.
Arcadia put four players in double figures, led by Candelaria's 11 points. Lee-Webb, Brown and Trojanowski all had 10, but a 9-for-26 first half proved too much to overcome.
Elizabethtown will return to action at 3 p.m. Saturday when it heads to Reading to face defending Commonwealth Conference Champion Alvernia.
Four of Elizabethtown's last five opponents were able to top the 80-point mark, but the Jays made sure that would not happen again. They were deliberate with their possessions on offense, contested the Knights closely on defense and kept second chances to a minimum.
In allowing 59 points, the Blue Jays (6-8, 3-4 CC) turned in their second best defensive effort of the year. E-town held Gettysburg to 55 in the season opener.
Elizabethtown trailed for just 25 seconds in the first half, responding to Arcadia's opening basket from Justin Trojanowski with a 7-0 run. The Knights were knocking at the door after scoring five in a row to trail by a single point, 13-12, with 10:48 to go in the half, but Phil Wenger, Lee Eckert and Andrew Mantz all found baskets around the rim in piecing together an 8-0 spurt that ran the visitors' lead back to 21-12.
Over the final 6:36 of the half, Arcadia managed seven shots, hitting only three and turning it over three times. Eckert would lead the Jays to the locker room with 10 points and a 32-22 lead. The 22 points were the fewest allowed by E-town in a half this season and the second fewest scored in a period for the Knights.
Phil Wenger, one of the frontrunners in the Commonwealth Conference in assist per game (5.0), picked up his fifth of the night on the Blue Jays' first possession of the second half when he found Mantz for three of his 18 points.
Eckert increased E-town's lead to 13, 37-24, before Trojanowski scored five straight and the Knights' outside shooting picked up.
Aaron Lee-Webb, Joe Brown and Torrell Candelaria connected on three consecutive chances in less than two minutes, and Rashon Brock's dunk with 12:01 to play tied the game at 42. Prior to string of triples, Arcadia had misfired on all seven of its 3-point tries.
Brown hit 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to give Arcadia a brief 43-42 lead, but Elizabethtown had plenty left in its collective tank, charging back with a 12-2 run in which Eckert and Tommy James converted a pair of and-1's.
Arcadia, already trying to dig out of a hole in conference play, drew within a deuce on a layup from Brown with 4:49 left, but E-town pushed its lead back to eight by scoring eight of the next 10 points.
Down the stretch the Blue Jays were clutch at the foul line. Mantz and Wenger hit each of their four attempts to hold the lead. Elizabethtown shot a season-best 81.3% from the line, going 13-of-16. All of its free throw attempts came in the second half.
Eckert's breakout season continued. Not only were his 21 points a game-high, but the junior nailed 10-of-14 shots. Already leading the Commonwealth Conference in field goal percentage at 61.9%, the Hempfield product only bettered it with a 71.4% performance Wednesday.
Mantz did his share down low, hitting 6-of-10 attempts. He was also 1-of-2 from 3-point range and 5-of-6 at the foul line. Wenger gave E-town three double figure scorers with 12 points and dished out a game-high eight assists. James, who drew his first career start, scored seven points.
Arcadia put four players in double figures, led by Candelaria's 11 points. Lee-Webb, Brown and Trojanowski all had 10, but a 9-for-26 first half proved too much to overcome.
Elizabethtown will return to action at 3 p.m. Saturday when it heads to Reading to face defending Commonwealth Conference Champion Alvernia.
