MIDDLETOWN, Pa. -- Elizabethtown sprinted out to a 14-3 lead early in Wednesday night's non-conference game at Penn State Harrisburg, but could not hold on down the stretch.
The Lions limited the Blue Jays to nine points over the final seven minutes, surging to an 80-66 victory.
Four of E-town's (3-4) five starters scored in double figures, led by junior guard
Bryce Greene's 16 points.
Connor Moffatt logged his first double-double of the year with 12 points and a season-high 11 rebounds.
Greene opened the scoring and dropped a pair of threes as the Blue and Gray opened a 10-0 lead three minutes in. In fact, E-town didn't miss on any of its first five shots. Greene (8) and Moffatt (4) combined for the visitors' first 12 points.
A layup from
Matt Thomas gave E-town its largest lead of the night, 14-3, at the 15:02 mark.
Backed by 14 of Kahlil Williams' game-high 31 points, Harrisburg (7-1) crawled back within 37-36 at the half. Williams scored nine straight points for his team during a 1-minute and 54-second stretch late in the half to help trim an eight-point E-town lead to three.
The Blue Jays, who shot nearly 60% (16-of-27) in the first half, got a trey from Moffatt on their first possession of the second, but Williams responded with a pair of buckets.
Elizabethtown would only score seven points over the first eight minutes of the period, allowing Harrisburg to take a lead it would not relinquish, 49-47, on a Williams layup with 12:17 to go.
Despite only turning the ball over four times after half, the Jays couldn't overcome a 5-of-17 effort from downtown (11-of-36 overall). E-town was outrebounded 25-17 in the second.
The Jays also had no answer for Williams. The Philly-born senior forward made 6-of-7 shots and was 5-of-7 from the line for 17 points. He finished 11-of-14 from the floor and 9-of-12 at the line while also securing 10 rebounds in 31 minutes.
Donyae Baylor-Carroll provided 11 points. Chris Bing (9 points), Brandon Coleman (8) and Pedro Rodriguez (7) all had solid nights off the bench.
Ethan DuBois had 14 points and
Michael Pastore registered 10, but the Jays' top three scorers (Greene, DuBois and Moffatt) combined to shoot just 17-of-38.
The Blue Jays' bench was outscored 24-8, with the only points coming from
Brandon Berry (6) and
Zach Nannen (2).
Elizabethtown is back on the road Saturday to face Valley Forge for the first time in program history. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
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