WASHINGTON, D.C. – Phil
Wenger's record-breaking 236th career steal came at the
most opportune time, as the senior guard pried the ball from
Catholic's Bryson Fonville and took it coast-to-coast for the
game-tying layup with 1:24 left in Wednesday evening's thriller at
the DuFour Athletic Center. Elizabethtown fought hard after
trailing by 10 with 5:05 to play, but the 23rd-ranked Cardinals
prevailed 68-65, to remain the league's lone unbeaten team.
Playing without the services of Lee
Eckert, who suffered a knee injury with 15 minutes left
in regulation after scoring 15 points in 21 minutes, the Blue Jays
(8-12, 6-6 Landmark) rallied together to trade buckets with the
Cardinals, newcomers to the D3Hoops.com Top 25 this week.
Matt
Lapkowicz made his only shot of the game with 11:43 to go
to tie it at 46. But just over five minutes later, Catholic (18-3,
12-0 Landmark) turned a two-point edge into a 10-point cushion as
Fonville and Corey Stanford split points on an 8-0 run.
Elizabethtown, one of four teams fighting for the final two spots
smack dab in the middle of a muddled up Landmark Conference,
responded with consecutive 3-pointers from Evan
Hathaway to trim the lead ever so slightly. On the second
3-pointer, Hathaway was fouled by Fonville and the Blue Jays were
given possession of the ball. They essentially turned it into a
five-point possession when Wenger buried two free throws to pull
E-town within 62-58 with 3:39 to go.
Two more empty offensive trips by the Cards and a pair of
Lapkowicz freebies made it a one-possession game, before Wenger
picked Fonville's pocket and forced his way to the rim for the
tying basket. Wenger, a Lancaster Catholic grad, broke hall of
famer Damian Burnside's school record of 235 steals, which stood
for 30 years.
For much of the night, however, it looked as if Wenger's hunt for
the record would have to wait –again. In Saturday's loss at
Scranton, he was held without a steal for just the third time this
season and seventh time in 89 career games. In fact, Wenger has
never gone two consecutive games in his career without registering
a steal. It's one of the reasons the defensive stalwart leads the
conference and ranks 12th in NCAA Division III in steals per game
and 13th in total steals.
Fellow senior Tyler
Simpkiss, who connected on his first seven shots, evened
the game once more, 62-62, with 57 seconds left, finishing a
Tommy
James pass for the final two of his team-high 18
points.
Catholic's Jay Howard made the go-ahead layup on his team's next
possession, and despite some subpar free throw shooting in the
final seconds, the Cardinals hung on when the Simpkiss' heave from
beyond half-court was off the mark.
Hathaway started his first game of the season and gave the Jays
nine points in a season-high 31 minutes. James also had nine in 22
minutes, helping fill the void inside following Eckert's
departure.
Turnovers played a major role in the outcome, with E-town
committing 18 to Catholic's eight. The Cardinals converted those
miscues into 22 points.
Stanford led three Cardinals in double figures with 19 points.
Fonville followed with 16 points, nine assists and four steals,
while Howard went for 16 and six boards.
Elizabethtown will honor its seven seniors prior to Saturday's 4
p.m. tip-off with Goucher. Following the game, the Blue Jays will
host their annual Alumni Game. The game against Goucher can be seen
live in HD on BlueJaysTV.
