Jamil Pines-Elliott vs. Merchant Marine 12/12/15
Matthew O'Haren
56
Winner Merchant Marine USMMA 4-4, 1-2 LC
52
Elizabethtown ETOWN 2-7, 0-2 LC
Winner
Merchant Marine USMMA
4-4, 1-2 LC
56
Final
52
Elizabethtown ETOWN
2-7, 0-2 LC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Merchant Marine USMMA 22 34 56
Elizabethtown ETOWN 26 26 52

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Merchant Marine rallies late to down men's basketball 56-52

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Merchant Marine closed Saturday's Landmark Conference men's basketball game on a 16-2 run, denying Elizabethtown its first league win, 56-52, at Thompson Gymnasium.

It looked like a 10-0 run for the Blue Jays late in the second half would be enough to push them over the hump. Dylan Krieger, making his E-town debut, started the run with a layup and finished it with a bucket off a beautiful pass from Jamil Pines-Elliott that put Elizabethtown (2-7, 0-2 Landmark) up 50-40 with 5:27 to go.

Merchant Marine immediately called timeout following the Pines-Elliott to Krieger connection and second-year coach Steve Hayn's message was received.

Six different players scored during the team's 16-2 run. The Mariners (4-4, 1-2) went in front 51-50 on a pair of Matt Miller free throws, but Pines-Elliott answered with a teardrop from the right side with 47 seconds to play that gave E-town a 52-51 lead.

On USMMA's next possession, Hunter Jones was fouled while shooting from the top of the arc. The junior guard subsequently knocked down all three at the line and the Jays' attempt to tie it was off the mark with 15 seconds left.

The Blue Jays played the second half without the services of starting shooting guard Matt Lapkowicz due to injury. Starting point guard Matt Lane was lost for the game less than three minutes into the second half when a hard foul sent him crashing to the floor.

Eden scored a team-high 12 points for the Blue and Gray before fouling out in the final minutes. Lapkowicz drilled a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points.

Elizabethtown shot 41.2% (21-of-51), was an efficient 3-of-5 from 3-point range and limited itself to 14 giveaways. The Blue Jays also did a fine job shutting down the perimeter, forcing the Mariners into 4-of-21 shooting from deep.

Saturday's game was decided at the charity stripe, however, and it was there that Merchant Marine excelled. The visitors buried 16-of-19 (84.2%) and were slightly better than that over the final 20 minutes, going 11-of-13. E-town, meanwhile, made just 7-of-17 attempts in the game.

The Mariners did it by committee, too. Miller was 4-of-4, center Andrew Williams 5-of-6 and Jones 3-of-3. Leading scorer David Smith was kept in check, making just 5-of-14 shots and 3-of-10 from 3-point land. Smith still managed to score 14 points and did connect on a big shot during USMMA's game-ending run.

Miller totaled 12 points and Williams nine.

Jamil Pines-Elliott pulled in six rebounds and had four steals to go along with four points in 23 minutes.

Elizabethtown finishes up 2015 with a non-conference game at Delaware Valley Tuesday evening at 7.
 
Print Friendly Version