Bob Schlosser and Men's Basketball Team vs. Susquehanna 2/18/17
82
Winner Susquehanna SUS 21-4, 11-3 LMK
69
Elizabethtown ETOWN 5-19, 2-12 LMK
Winner
Susquehanna SUS
21-4, 11-3 LMK
82
Final
69
Elizabethtown ETOWN
5-19, 2-12 LMK
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Susquehanna SUS 32 50 82
Elizabethtown ETOWN 30 39 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Jays close season, Schlosser career, vs. No. 15 Susquehanna

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- A crowded Thompson Gymnasium watched Elizabethtown stay right with 15th-ranked Susquehanna until the final minutes in an 82-69 loss Saturday that closed the Blue Jays' season and the storied coaching career of Bob Schlosser.

The Blue Jays honored their 2016-17 seniors prior to the game and there was a stirring tribute to Schlosser thanking and recognizing the 27th-year bench boss for his contributions to Elizabethtown College, including 364 career victories on the hardwood --most of any coach in program history.

Emotions seemed to linger a bit into the opening minutes of the game. Elizabethtown (5-19, 2-12 Landmark) started out 3 of 13 from the floor and the Blue Jays were down 20-7 with 11:14 to go before halftime against an athletic and dangerous 21-win River Hawk team.

Josh Eden, one of the team's six seniors, was determined not to let his collegiate playing career end in a runaway defeat.

A traditional three-point play by Eden started a run of 11 straight E-town points by the Slatington native. Eden's two free throws with 6:22 left in the first had the Blue Jays back within four, 22-18. Five points from Bryce Greene and an Ethan DuBois layup eventually tied the game at 27 in the final two minutes of the half.

Susquehanna took the lead once more in the last 30 seconds to head into the break ahead 32-30.

DuBois showed a glimpse of what he can bring to the table while starting each of the last six games. The freshman from Manahawkin, New Jersey, went 4 of 5 from the field and 4 of 5 at the foul line Saturday for 13 points --his second highest total this season. His only 3-point attempt was true early in the second half to give the Blue Jays their only lead of the afternoon, 34-32.

While the Blue and Gray pressed on, the size, shooting and depth of Susquehanna eventually wore on the hosts. E-town was also forced to manage Eden's minutes carefully in the second half after he went to the bench with four fouls at the 17:42 mark. Despite that, the senior had one of his career best games. It wasn't all in the points department. Eden regularly matched the intensity and physicality of River Hawks' big men Ryan Traub, Zach Knecht and Danny Weiss.

The Landmark tournament-bound River Hawks (21-4, 11-3) got a big second-half effort from leading scorer Steven Weidlich, who dropped 17 of his game-high 23 points on 6 of 8 shooting and 3 of 4 from downtown. Traub and Knecht had their way in the low post with Eden on the bench. They combined for 19 points and 12 rebounds as SU outscored E-town 50-32 in the final 20 minutes.

Eden had 15 points and a team-leading seven rebounds in his final game as a Blue Jay. Fellow senior Matt Lapkowicz scored 11 points, while adding five boards and five assists. The last of those, on a Connor Moffatt layup with 3:58 left, was the 100th of his Elizabethtown career.

Elizabethtown was good on 41 percent of its shots Saturday (25 of 61) and made eight threes, but Susquehanna countered with 52.6 percent shooting (30 of 57) and was very effective outside, going 10 of 19 for a matching 52.6 percent on 3-point attempts.

Eden and Lapkowicz were among the six players honored prior to Saturday's game. John Bush (three points), Peter Harding (seven points, three assists), Brian Lukacsy (rebound, steal) and Jake Sweger (rebound) made up the remainder of the 2016-17 senior class.

Saturday's crowd was filled with many of Schlosser's former players and many more who just came to pay their respect to a man who has meant so much to Elizabethtown College since arriving in 1990. A number of those former players have followed in their mentor's footsteps by going on to successful coaching careers at the scholastic or collegiate levels. Sons Ben (Elizabethtown assistant coach), Sam (Penn State Harrisburg assistant coach) and Will (Springfield graduate assistant coach) have as well. Schlosser, who guided Elizabethtown to three conference championships, 16 conference postseason appearances, three NCAA Division III tournaments and a 2001-02 national runner-up finish, closes his career with a 364-322 overall record (.531 winning percentage).
 
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