The Blue Jays put up a fight, but could not defeat the Commonwealth Conference leaders and 22nd-ranked Messiah College last Wednesday night at Brubaker Auditorium.
The Hawks outscored the Blue Jays 40-18 over the final 12:51 to make it an 80-65 victory. Messiah had also beaten the Jays earlier in the year on Elizabethtown College’s home court. Although the team is in a rough patch, the Blue Jays still have a chance to make it to the playoffs.
Etown also struggled against Lebanon Valley in its most recent game. The Blue Jays had an 11-point lead but could not hold on to it as the Dutchmen won 62-56. Although they earned a win last time against the Dutchmen on their home court, they couldn’t put it together to earn another win against that team.
Although a 7-12 record does not seem promising, making it to playoffs is still possible, according to sophomore Matt Ziegler. “We all know we have the ability to beat anyone in our conference, but we can’t be losing to the teams we should be beating.” The Blue Jays have showed during the season that they have the potential to beat anyone. Junior Phil Wenger recently proved this, sinking a three-point shot to put the Jays up 65-63 against Stevenson with two seconds left in the fourth quarter, resulting in the closest win of the season.
During Head Coach Bob Schlosser’s 24 years coaching the team, he has won around 350 games. Schlosser has led his team to playoffs 15 times, plus a stretch of 11 repeated seasons from 1995-96 to 2005-06.
Junior Lee Eckert, senior Andrew Mantz and Wenger are always involved in competing against the opposing team. Eckert leads the team in points, averaging around 15 a game while also averaging seven rebounds a game. Mantz also brings a lot to the table for his team. He has put up 218 points this season, the second most points on the team, while also having 36 blocks and 15 steals. Wenger has 167 points this season along with averaging around five assists per game. Each of these players have shown great athletic ability on the court while also making a huge impact on the team, both on and off the ball.
Even with a 7-12 record, the Blue Jays are not even close to giving up on this season. They still have six conference games left to compete in. Etown’s conference record is 4-8, but if the team can bring its A-game for the rest of the season, there is still a possibility for a season worth remembering.
