Matt Thomas vs. Moravian 12/2/17
Dan Gittis
54
Washington College WC 4-6
66
Winner Elizabethtown ETOWN 2-5
Washington College WC
4-6
54
Final
66
Elizabethtown ETOWN
2-5
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Washington College WC 29 25 54
Elizabethtown ETOWN 18 48 66

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Blue Jays use brawn to beat Washington College

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Sunday's non-conference matchup with Washington College was a tale of two halves for the Elizabethtown College men's basketball team.

The Blue Jays launched 17 3-pointers, shot just 26.9% and could only muster 18 first-half points. Their mindset --and fortunes-- changed in the final 20 minutes when they used strength and speed to own the interior in a 66-54 victory over the Shoremen at Thompson Gymnasium.

Connor Moffatt recorded his fifth double-double in seven games with 17 points and 13 rebounds, Bryce Greene came on late to score 12 points and Brandon Berry had 10 against his former team to put the Blue and Gray back in the win column after suffering back-to-back one-point losses over the last eight days.

Moffatt was a monster in the second half, ripping down 10 rebounds and scoring 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting to lead the Jays (2-5) back from an 11-point halftime deficit.

Elizabethtown fell behind by 13, its largest margin of the afternoon, on a Kaiden Williams layup 29 seconds into the second half, but quickly responded with a 17-4 run over the next 4:33 to tie the game at 35. Moffatt provided six points during the run and Ethan DuBois had five.

The Shoremen (4-6) would go back in front by four, but the Blue Jays would not let them get away. A steal by Berry and two-handed rim-rocking dunk by Greene started another E-town barrage, as the hosts scored 24 of the next 29 points to open up a 15-point advantage, 60-45, with less than four minutes to go.

Twelve of the Jays' 24 points in the run came in the paint, where they outscored Washington College 26-12 after halftime. Elizabethtown's willingness to go inside and battle for paint supremacy resulted in its most efficient half of the season. The Blue Jays made 16 of 23 field goals in the period, good for 69.6%, and went 14 of 21 at the foul line after only one attempt in the first half.

Though Washington held a 40-35 rebounding edge overall, the Blue Jays were +4 in the second half (20-16) and converted seven Shoremen turnovers into 10 points.

Berry, who spent his freshman and sophomore seasons with the Shoremen, was clearly motivated to face his former teammates. The Blue Jays' sixth man buried a three from the top of the arc less than 30 seconds after coming into the game and did a little bit of everything in the second half with seven points, two rebounds, two steals and a pair of assists. He finished tied for the game-high in assists (four) and steals (two).

DuBois scored nine points for the Blue Jays, Matt Thomas had eight and after being held scoreless for nearly 26 minutes, Michael Pastore finished with seven (5 of 8 at the foul line).

Dallas Marshall was the only Washington player in double figures with 16 points. Shoremen leading scorer Josh Porteous (11.3 ppg) made just 3 of 10 attempts for eight points. Despite leading 29-18 at the break, Washington only shot 36.7% in the first half. Things only got worse in the second when they went 0 for 9 from 3-point range and just 9 of 32 overall (28.1%).

Elizabethtown can get back within a game of .500 heading into the holiday break with games against Penn State Harrisburg and Shenandoah on the horizon. The Blue Jays will host the Lions next Sunday at 3 p.m.
 
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