Box score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. ---
Mike Church finished with game highs of 18 points and 14 rebounds and Elizabethtown College broke a 42-42 second-half tie with a 39-9 run en route to an 81-66 victory over Widener University in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action Saturday at Thompson Gymnasium.
Church recorded his second straight double-double, fourth in the last six games and sixth of the season for the Blue Jays (12-5 overall, 4-3 Commonwealth), who won their sixth consecutive home game and snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Pride (9-9 overall, 2-5 Commonwealth) dating to Jan. 25, 2006.
Keith Fogel added 17 points and six assists for the Blue Jays, while
Bryan Harrity tallied 12 points and six rebounds and
Joe Flanagan also reached double figures with 10 points. Elizabethtown connected on 10 three-pointers in the game, from seven different players, and converted 21 Widener turnovers into 34 points.
Jarrell Nelson paced Widener with 18 points and Perry Wright added 14 points and four rebounds off the bench for the Pride, which shot 38.7 percent (24-for-62) from the field in the game . BJ Smith added six points and a game-high six steals while Jack Brennan contributed six points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Widener led by as many as six points at 12-6 with six minutes gone in the contest, but the Blue Jays reeled off seven straight points to go ahead 13-12 with 11:31 left in the half. Back-to-back three-pointers from Fogel and
Ben Cable gave Elizabethtown a 19-15 lead, and the Blue Jays extended the margin to 38-33 at intermission.
Church led all players with 10 rebounds in the first half and had a team-high nine points for the Blue Jays, while Wright paced the Pride with 11 points. Widener shot 33.3 percent (11-for-33) from the field in the first half while the Blue Jays connected at 43.8 percent (14-for-32) despite committing 14 turnovers.
A three-pointer by Wright tied the game for the final time at 42-42 with 16:30 left, but the Blue Jays scored the next 14 points to take a 56-42 lead with 13:02 left. Back-to-back threes by Fogel and
Mark Vogel capped the run, which was finally snapped on a basket by Onyi Ezeala of the Pride.
Elizabethtown led 64-50 with nine minutes remaining, but put the pedal to the floor and went on a 17-1 run over the next 4 1/2 minutes to take its largest lead of the day at 81-51 with 4:31 to play. From there, the Pride returned the favor by scoring the game's final 15 points.