Box score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. ---
Keith Fogel scored 18 points as Elizabethtown College defeated Albright College 74-67 in a key Commonwealth Conference men's basketball game Sunday afternoon at Thompson Gymnasium.
Joe Flanagan added 14 points and matched his career high with eight rebounds and
Mike Church posted his seventh double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Jays (14-6 overall, 6-4 Commonwealth), who moved within a game of the Lions for the top spot in the conference standings with four regular-season games remaining.
Zac Shaeffer led the Lions (18-4 overall, 7-3 Commonwealth) with 18 points while Derek Hall had 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, but Albright shot 38.5 percent from the field (25-for-65) en route to its second consecutive loss. The Lions fell into a tie with Lycoming College for first place in the league standings, with Elizabethtown in third at 6-4.
Fogel needed just nine field-goal attempts to score his 18 points, going 4-for-9 from the field and 3-for-6 from three-point range in addition to a perfect 7-for-7 performance at the foul line in 36 minutes of playing time.
With his 11-point performance, Church moved within nine points of becoming the 30th player in program history to score 1,000 career points. He has scored in double figures 17 times in 20 games this season and has 16 career double-double performances.
The Blue Jays did not trail in the first half, hitting five three-pointers in the first 12 minutes to take an early 22-11 lead. Elizabethtown led 34-30 at halftime as Church and Fogel shared the team lead for the Blue Jays with nine points each, while Kenneth Sullivan and Andre Murphy each came off the bench to lead the Lions with six points apiece.
Albright took its first lead of the game at 40-39 on a three-pointer by Matt Ashcroft with 16:18 left, and held its biggest advantage of the afternoon at 46-43 following a basket by Hall with 14:36 to go. From there, the Blue Jays went on a 15-2 run over the next 5 1/2 minutes to take a 58-48 lead with 7:49 remaining.
The Lions cut the deficit to a single point on two occasions, the last at 62-61 following two free throws by Jeff Sparrow with 3:39 remaining. However,
Kyle McConnell hit a key three-pointer to put Elizabethtown up 65-61 with 2:48 left, and the Blue Jays went 7-for-8 from the foul line in the final minute to lock up the victory.
McConnell finished with nine points in 25 minutes of action for the Blue Jays, while
Bryan Harrity came off the bench to score eight points on 4-of-5 shooting in nine minutes.
Both teams controlled the ball well, with Elizabethtown finishing with 11 turnovers and Albright eight. The Blue Jays held a 39-35 advantage in rebounding and went 15-for-20 from the foul line while the Lions hit on 10-of-14 free throw attempts.