ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- The Elizabethtown College men's basketball team found itself down by as many as 14 points in the second half, but some key long-range shooting helped the Blue Jays erase the deficit and eventually pull off the 82-77 win over Wilson. Connor Moffatt led E-town with a game-high 23 points as five players were in double figures for the Jays. Avery Morton had a team-best 14 off the bench.

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Moffatt provided Elizabethtown (1-0) with four of the team's first five points as the Jays were out to an early lead.

Adrian Thomas made his presence felt off the bench for Wilson (0-1), putting the Phoenix in front 10-8 with back-to-back jumpers. Thomas pumped in a team-high 19 points and went 6-for-8 from the floor in the game.

Thomas' steal and layup pushed Wilson's lead up to seven with less than ten minutes to go in the first half, the biggest lead of the game by either team. A few possessions later, Bryce Greene sank one of his four treys to cut into the Phoenix lead.

Morton knocked down a three from the left wing with 4:11 to go in the half on a dish from Liam Thompson that made it a five-point game after Jeremiah Carter-Johnson had given Wilson a 30-22 lead. Later, Wyatt Hockenberry made good on a jumper in the paint, and consecutive buckets from Jalin Robinson and Greene on the fastbreak with a minute to go dropped Wilson's lead down to three, 34-31. Greene ended the half with another layup and the Blue Jays trailed by just a point at the intermission.

The Phoenix led for much of the second half and got ahead by as many as 14 with 10:44 left in the game. Moffatt's layup with 9:46 remaining kickstarted a 36-17 run to end the game as Elizabethtown began to seize momentum thanks to Moffatt and some sharpshooting beyond the arc.



Hockenberry and Greene hit consecutive three's for the Jays as the deficit was cut down to six with 7:40 left. Greene drained yet another trey minutes later and all of a sudden, E-town was within a point at 67-66.

Moffatt came up with a steal and went coast-to-coast to knot the game up at 69-69 with 3:36 to go. Wilson retook the lead, but it was quickly deadlocked again as Morton was fouled and hit both of the ensuing freebies. The sophomore canned a three to give the Blue Jays a one-point lead with 2:07 showing on the clock.

The lead changed hands another four times, but Moffatt would put E-town ahead for good with 26 seconds remaining after Ethan DuBois produced the steal for the Jays. The senior finished off the game with a final set of free throws.

Moffatt was an efficient 8-for-12 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds to tie for a team-high along with DuBois. Greene ended up with 18 for the Jays. Morton, Hockenberry, and Robinson combined for 36 points off the bench for Elizabethtown.

The men's basketball team is at Penn State Berks on Wednesday, November 13, at 8 p.m.