Steve Ennis vs. Arcadia 1/28/12
58
Arcadia ARCADIAM 9-10, 2-6 CC
69
Winner Elizabethtown ETWN-M 8-10, 4-4 CC
Arcadia ARCADIAM
9-10, 2-6 CC
58
Final
69
Elizabethtown ETWN-M
8-10, 4-4 CC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Arcadia ARCADIAM 23 35 58
Elizabethtown ETWN-M 37 32 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's basketball gets over hurdle, beats Arcadia

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- In the past two meetings between Elizabethtown and Arcadia, the Knights have proven to be a pest the Blue Jays just couldn't shake. E-town needed a win for a playoff spot in last season's final regular season game, but Arcadia denied it that victory. Then in the league opener this winter, the Knights took an eight-point decision. Saturday afternoon, on its home court, E-town removed the thorn from its side. The Jays held off a late run by the Knights, and hit their free throws, en route to a 69-58 Commonwealth Conference win.

In danger of throwing away its 14-point halftime lead, Elizabethtown (8-10, 4-4 CC) responded to a 10-2 Arcadia run with 14 unanswered points to put the game away in the final 4:10. The Knights had briefly tied the game at 53 following their run, in which all their points came from the foul line. Steve Ennis, who scored a career-high 17 points, notched the next four, while Andrew Mantz and Phil Wenger both added layups for a quick eight-point advantage.

Arcadia (9-10, 2-6 CC) leading scorer Khalief Trawick picked up his fifth foul in the final minute of play, prompting Knights head coach Pat Dorney to air his differing of opinion with the game officials. A technical foul on Dorney allowed Ennis to stroll to the line and knock down four straight shots —two from the technical foul and two while shooting the double bonus on Trawick's foul. Though they came in shooting just over 62 percent from the line this season, the Blue Jays were stellar there Saturday, hitting 16-of-19 attempts. Again, Ennis led the way. He was 9-of-10. Wenger was a perfect 6-of-6.

From the get-go, E-town was ready for the Knights. Joe Schwalm downed a three and Wenger scooped one in at the basket to help the Jays open the game with five straight points. Thirteen of the first 15 points went to the Blue Jays, and the game threatened to get out of hand with 3:03 remaining before halftime when Ryan Borzager hit 3-pointers on back-to-back trips down the court that put E-town ahead 37-18.

The final five points of the half went to Arcadia, but the Glenside school still trailed by double figures for much of the second half. Shots from outside by Colin McCarthy and Malcolm Still closed the gap, once at 19, to four with 12:49 to go. E-town hit 15 field goals in the first half, but got only three in the opening 8:35 of the second half, making Arcadia's rally efforts possible. The drought came to an end quickly, though, as E-town matched those three field goals in 8:35, with three in 2:54 to extend the lead to 51-43.

Ennis was nearly a point-per-minute player Saturday, his 17 points coming in 18 minutes. The sophomore was a very efficient 4-of-6 from the floor, grabbed three rebounds and had a steal as well. Wenger topped double figures for the fifth time this season —and first time in five games— with a 16-point outing. Mantz scored eight and Schwalm six in a game that featured two of the conference's better defenses.

Shooting 25 free throws on the afternoon themselves, the Knights got nearly half their points from McCarthy (12) and Joe Brown (11). Trawick suffered a similar fate to Lycoming's leading scorers this past Wednesday, as he was held far below his average with a mere five points on 1-of-5 shooting. Trawick was hampered by foul trouble all afternoon before fouling out late in regulation. Brown totaled a game-high nine rebounds, but the teams collected 37 each for the game.

E-town, winners of two straight, will be at Widener Wednesday night at 8 p.m. looking for a season sweep of the Pride.
 
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