Matt Ziegler vs. Lancaster Bible (2) 11/17/15
73
Winner Catholic CUA 15-5, 8-3 LC
60
Elizabethtown ETOWN 3-16, 1-10 LC
Winner
Catholic CUA
15-5, 8-3 LC
73
Final
60
Elizabethtown ETOWN
3-16, 1-10 LC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Catholic CUA 31 42 73
Elizabethtown ETOWN 22 38 60

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's basketball puts scare into Catholic, falls 73-60

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Catholic likely wasn't banking on an Elizabethtown team it defeated by 34 points a month ago to put up much of a fight in the rematch Wednesday. The Blue Jays had other ideas, answering almost every bucket and every run the playoff-bound Cardinals threw at them, before running out of steam late in a 73-60 setback at Thompson Gymnasium.

Despite falling behind 10-2 in the opening 3:34, Elizabethtown kept grinding. Matt Ziegler scored five points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer as the Blue Jays scored nine straight to take an 11-10 lead in a fast-paced first half.

Catholic (15-5, 8-3 Landmark) handed the Blue Jays their most lopsided loss of the season, 101-67, in Washington, D.C., back on Jan. 5, but Elizabethtown was up to the task on its home floor.

Even though the Cardinals owned a 33-26 edge on the glass and shot 19 more free throws, E-town (3-16, 1-10) never let up on defense. The Jays contested most every shot and matched CUA's physicality.

Tommy James, one of four Jays in double figures with 10 points, earned his stripes away from the basket, stepping in to take multiple charges.

Matt Lane's steal and dish to Peter Harding pulled Elizabethtown within 24-22 with 6:07 to go in the first half, but another lengthy dry spell almost doomed the Blue and Gray's hopes of an upset.

E-town didn't score for the remainder of the first half and trailed 31-22 at the break.

The offensive difficulties would be all but forgotten in a matter of minutes. James scored on the first possession of the second half, junior center Josh Eden converted back-to-back layups and Ziegler completed a traditional three-point play to cap a 9-1 run that had the Blue Jays down a point, 32-31, with 17:21 to go.

Harding's trey from the right wing put the Jays' bench on its feet as the hosts took their first lead of the second half, 47-46, at the 11:27 mark. They still led with under 10 minutes to play, but Catholic pieced together an 11-2 run finished off by Austin Calling's follow up that had the Cardinals in front 60-53 with a tick under seven to play.

While it's been a tough go from 3-point territory in 2015-16, the Jays knocked down six for the second time in their last three games Wednesday. All three of Matt Lapkowicz's field goals came from downtown. The junior from Harrisburg finished with 10 points in his second game back after an injury cost him eight games.

Eden reached double figures for the sixth game in a row, netting a team-high 13. Ziegler had 10 points before fouling out late and Dylan Krieger seven.

Jay Howard worked around four fouls to score a game-high 20 points for CUA. Bryson Fonville, the nation's fourth leading distributor with 6.7 assists per game, helped his cause in that department with eight dimes. Fonville scored the Cardinals' first six points of the night and wound up with 14 at game's end. Corey Stanford totaled 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Catholic was a bit better shooting the ball, going 25-of-50 (50%) on the night. Elizabethtown was 25-of-52 (48.1%), but watched the visitors make 17-of-28 free throws.

Elizabethtown did set a new season-high with 19 assists, seven of which came from its senior point guard Lane. Harding was credited with six assists to go along with eight points.

Though they haven't been rewarded with wins, the Blue Jays have played better at times over the last month. They picked up their first conference win at Merchant Marine Jan. 18 and suffered a pair of losses by five points or less before Wednesday's game effort. They'll look to build on tonight's showing Saturday at Goucher. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
 
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