On Feb. 12, 2025, The Elizabethtown College men’s basketball team took on the Goucher College Gophers in Elizabethtown’s Thompson Gymnasium.
The Jays immediately put pressure on the Gophers at the start of the game. Junior forward EJ Finney applied pressure inside, but the Gophers stole the ball away. Despite defensive plays from the Jays, Goucher senior John Dixon scored the first few points of the game.
This initial back-and-forth set the mood for most of the first half. The Blue Jays began developing a lead, only for Goucher to bounce ahead by a few points thanks to a three-pointer scored by Goucher senior Darrell Green. The Blue Jays returned the favor after senior guard Rance Russo and junior guard Austin Finarelli got things going in the scoring column. As this tug-of-war progressed, the Blue Jays eventually got—and stayed—ahead of the Gophers.
As the first half progressed, Etown cranked up the intensity of their offense and solidified their lead. Russo and junior guard Ben Stanton knocked down two more three-pointers, while Finney scored several times between these big-time shots. While the Gophers tried to match the Jays’ offense and defense, Etown maintained a steady lead.
The point differential between the two teams became more exacerbated in the first half’s final seconds. With a minute left on the clock, Etown went on a run. Finarelli kicked it off with a steal and, on the fastbreak, he’d convert on a layup to put the Jays up five. Forty seconds later, Finney found space and scored one more three-pointer seconds before halftime. By the end of the first half, the score was 37-29 in the Jays’ favor.
The halftime break did little to slow down the Jays’ momentum as the game moved into its second half. With 15 minutes left in the game,Finarelli made another steal and drove into a wide open paint for an easy two points. Meanwhile, Finney helped his team via several assists and steals throughout the second half.
Around this time, the Jays became more aggressive behind the arc. Over roughly one minute, Etown attempted four three-pointers, knocking down two. One of these was due to the quick thinking and cooperation between Stanton, first-year guard Zuri Harris and senior guard Alon Gorham, as they out-maneuvered the Gophers’ defense with a series of passes. By this point in the game—about six minutes left in regulation—the Jays had established a seemingly unbreakable lead with a 24-point difference between them and Goucher.
The Gophers were not giving up without a fight, however. With about six minutes left in the game, Goucher sophomore Darnell Morris Jr. intercepted a pass between two Jays, only for Stanton to steal the ball right back. However, he would subsequently lose it to Gopher senior David Nwankwo, who’d drive into the lane for the layup..
As the game approached its final minutes, the Gophers tore down the Jays’ lead piece by piece. Morris Jr. and Goucher senior Thomas Lewis moved past Etown’s defense to knock down a couple more three-pointers. Meanwhile, Goucher first-year Brian Griffin scored shot after shot with seconds left on the clock. Over 11 in-game seconds, Griffin earned six more points for the Gophers and brought Elizabethtown’s lead down to 16 points.
However, this was not enough to earn Goucher the win, as the Jays walked away victoriously. By the end of the game, the final score was 85-70. The match brought Etown’s season record up to 9-13, which sits at 9-14 after a loss against the Wilkes University Colonels.
After a match against Drew University, the Elizabethtown men’s basketball team will celebrate their senior day with a match against Scranton University. The game will take place at 4 p.m. on Feb. 22 at the Elizabethtown College Thompson Gymnasium.
