The Blue Jays’ men’s basketball team saw their chances of competing in the Commonwealth Conference postseason come to a halt as Hood College outlasted the Blue Jays 85-64 Saturday afternoon at Thompson Gymnasium in a shooting spree.
The Blazers showed their capabilities early and often Saturday afternoon by limiting the Blue Jays to 33 percent shooting average and 29 percent average from long range.
Despite the puzzling season for the Blue Jays men’s basketball team, senior Ryan Borzager continued being the only player to score double figures with 13 points. The Blue Jays led 14-12 early with Borzager scoring a pair of field goals. Senior Joe Schwalm sunk another three-pointer, followed by junior Lee Eckert sinking a bucket. But with less than a minute left, the Blazers scored a three-pointer to take the lead.
The Blazers started their three-point streak and led 18-14 with 12 minutes to play. Blue Jays’ junior Will Schlosser answered back by scoring a three-pointer to bring the Blue Jays one point away from turning the game around. But the Blazers scored another three-pointer to widen the score 21-17 in the first half.
Cade Woody, Terell Buyck, Davon Hill and Cameron Cook slowed down Etown’s momentum as Hood scored 23 straight points from either field goals or the free throw line. Cook scored 13 of his game-high 15 points in the first half. Hill sank a free throw after being fouled and extended the score 44-21 with less than five minutes remaining in the half. The Blue Jays walked into the locker room trailing 45-28.
Cook opened the second half with another trey. Borzager answered back by sinking a three to put the Blue Jays under a 20-point difference. The Blazers then led 56-32 by sinking back-to-back field goals. The Blue Jays had a difficult time as they trailed by more than 20 points the rest of the game. Hood sunk another three-pointer and defeated Etown 85-64.
The honored seniors Borzager, Andrew Mantz and Schwalm all played a tough game. Borzager led the team with his career high of 13 points in the game. “We moved the ball fairly well and got some good looks offensively,” Schwalm said. Mantz also led the team with five rebounds and junior Phil Wenger led the team with four assists.
Unfortunately, the door has closed to the Commonwealth Conference postseason and the Blue Jays have been eliminated from the playoffs. The Blue Jays plan on improving their performance by “making better shots and playing better defense,” Schwalm said. With only two games left in the season, the Blue Jays plan on working on their weaknesses and building on their strengths to end the season on a good note.
“Despite the loss, our seniors played tough and they contributed a lot towards the team. They were excellent role models and mentors, and overall shaped our team and gave us the motivation to never give up,” sophomore Matt Ziegler said.
On Tuesday, the Blue Jays headed to Owings Mills, Md. to take on the Stevenson Mustangs for the second time this season.
In the initial contest, the Etown bested the Mustangs. Unfortunately, this was not the case the second time around. Though the Blue Jays kept in close, the Mustangs pulled away in the second half, winning the game 75-61.
Etown will hit the court for the last time this season when they travel to Albright College on Saturday at 4 p.m.
