Box score
CHESTER, Pa. --- Widener University placed five players in double figures and overcame a milestone performance by Elizabethtown College's
Mike Church to earn an 80-67 victory in a key Commonwealth Conference men's basketball matchup Saturday at the Schwartz Center.
Church led all players with a season-high 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and became the 30th player in Elizabethtown program history to score 1,000 points on a foul shot with 14:08 left in the first half.
However, the Pride (12-11 overall, 5-7 Commonwealth) led 47-31 at halftime and withstood a second-half run by the Blue Jays (14-7 overall, 6-5 Commonwealth) to remain in the hunt for a Commonwealth Conference playoff berth.
With one week remaining in the regular season, Elizabethtown is in sole possession of the fourth and final playoff spot at 6-5, with Alvernia University trailing by a half-game at 6-6. Lebanon Valley College is a game back at 5-6, followed by Widener at 5-7. The Blue Jays play at Lebanon Valley Tuesday night before finishing the season at home with second-place Lycoming College (8-3) Thursday and Arcadia University (0-12) Saturday.
Onyi Ezeala led Widener with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jack Brennan added 15 points and six boards and Chris McDevitt chipped in with 12 points off the Pride bench. Bobby Edmunds tallied 11 points and a game-high eight assists for Widener, with Perry Wright joining McDevitt in double figures off the bench with 10 points in 19 minutes.
For the Blue Jays,
Bryan Harrity torched his former teammates for a career-high 17 points in 19 minutes off the bench, while
Keith Fogel netted 12 points and handed out seven assists. However, the Blue Jays finished the game at 40.7 percent (24-for-59) from the field while Widener shot 48.3 percent (29-for-60) overall and 7-for-14 from three-point range.
Church scored the Blue Jays' first 13 points as Elizabethtown trailed 16-13 with 12:18 left in the first half, but Widener used a 13-2 run to build a 29-17 lead midway through the half. The Blue Jays cut the margin to 31-24 on a jumper by Fogel with 6:21 left, but Widener answered with nine straight points to take a 40-24 lead just three minutes later.
The Pride led 47-31 at halftime after shooting 52.9 percent (18-for-34) from the field in the opening half. McDevitt went 3-for-3 from three-point range and led all players with 12 points in the first half, while Church tallied 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting for the Blue Jays and pulled 11 rebounds to secure his eighth double-double of the season.
In the second half, the Blue Jays opened with a 12-1 run to pull within 48-43 on a three-point play by Church with 16:27 left. Elizabethtown moved as close as four points twice, the latter with 10:02 left at 59-55 after two free throws by
Joe Flanagan, but a quick 9-2 spurt by the Pride restored its double-figure advantage at 68-57 with 7:26 remaining.