Feb. 6 in the Thompson Gym at Elizabethtown College, the Etown men’s basketball team defeated the Catholic University Cardinals 67-66. With the win, the Blue Jays move to 8-12 on the season. The Cardinals took their sixth loss of the season, putting them at 13-6. It was a back and forth battle all day. It would come down to the final possession. The Blue Jays knocked down a three-ball with three seconds to go and held off the Cardinals’ final effort for the win.
Sophomore guard Jared Archer from Reisterstown, Md. was the hero in Sunday’s game. Archer knocked down the game-winning shot wrapping up a great afternoon. “I was very confident in that shot because it’s a shot I work on often,” Archer mentioned after the game. He finished with 11 points on 63 percent shooting from the field, to go along with three assists and three rebounds. Fellow guard senior Jalin Robinson from Newcastle, Del., led the team in scoring with an exceptional 24 points, shooting 50 percent from downtown.
For the Cardinals, it was sophomore Jesse Hafemeister from Mendham, N. J. leading the team in scoring with 22 points. Sophomore guard Colby Martins from Irvington, N.Y. got hot from behind the three-point line late, finishing with 17 points and Jake Timby also got into double digits tallying 12 points.
Etown would start red hot in the first half scoring nine points before the Cardinals could even make a basket. Catholic would begin to go on a run of their own following a timeout with 16:52 to go in the first half, closing the gap to just one and pushing Etown to their limits for the rest of the half. With one last possession before time expired, Catholic’s Martins was able to tie the game at 34 into the locker rooms with a three-pointer with just four seconds to go in the half.
The Blue Jays came out firing on all cylinders to begin the second half, going up by as many as 11 with 13:40 to play. However, like the first half, the Cardinals would find their rhythm and slowly narrow that gap. They found themselves on top for the first time since the 19-minute mark after another three from Martins with 7 minutes to go. After Catholic opened things up to a 5-point lead, Etown buckled down on defense, setting themselves up for a final shot. Robinson made his way up the floor and found Archer for the game-winning three-pointer. Catholic’s last-second prayer came up short, as Etown hung on to win.
“I thought that was our best 40 minutes of the season,” Etown Coach Moore said. “We’ve had some tight games and this group just keeps working.” The Blue Jays look to make it two in a row this week.Sophomore Jared Archer added, “Now we will have one day to get ready for Juniata on Wednesday and hope to see a great crowd.” The game is scheduled for Saturday, February 13 at 2 p.m. in the Thompson Gym.
