ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Friday, November 21, 2003

Wilkes and Thomas More Advance to Tournament Championship with Close Wins on First Day of Sprint Blue Jay Classic; Etown and Adrian to Meet in Consolation Game

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Both Wilkes and Thomas More (KY) logged close victories on the first day of Elizabethtown's Sprint Blue Jay Classic to advance to Saturday's 3:00 p.m. tournament championship game. Wilkes defeated Adrian (MI), 74-71, in the first game Friday night, and Thomas More upended Etown, 78-76, in the second game. Adrian and Elizabethtown will face each other in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m. Saturday.

Adrian steamrolled Wilkes in the opening minutes of the first game, jumping out to a 25-8 lead in the opening seven minutes. Wikes spent the rest of the first half creeping back into the game, and the Colonels took a 36-35 lead, their first of the game since 18:55, with just 56 seconds left in the first half. Adrian took a 39-38 advantage into halftime.

Wilkes went up to stay when it took a 59-57 lead with 8:45 left in the game. The Colonels never extended their lead to more than five points, however, and Adrian pulled to within one, 72-71, with just 20 seconds remaining. Mike Morgan (Taylor, PA/Riverside) made the final basket for Wilkes with eight seconds left in the game for his only points of the day.

Dave Plisko (Sugar Notch, PA/Hanover Area) and Phil Bonczewski (Plymouth, PA/Wyoming Valley West) each led Wilkes with 17 points. Billy Collins (Jackson, MI/Kalamazoo CC) came off the bench to lead Adrian with 26 points, and Brian Schaefer (Strongsville, OH/Strongsville) scored 21 points for Adrian and led the team in rebounds with eight.

In the second game, a layup by Thomas More's Chris Thompson (Ft. Wright, KY) at the buzzer put to rest a game that featured more turnovers than minutes, and almost as many fouls. In 40 minutes, Etown totaled 23 turnovers and 19 fouls, and Thomas More had 22 turnovers and 19 fouls. Etown held a 41-32 lead with 3:41 left in the first half, but Thomas More went on a 9-3 run to end the half down just 44-41.

Thomas More's hot streak continued in the second half, and the Saints took a 45-44 lead at 18:48. The lead changed hands 12 times in the next 15 minutes, until Thomas More began to pull away and went up 68-62 with just 3:40 left to play. Etown mounted a comeback and took a 72-71 lead at 1:33 on a Greg Adams (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon) layup, but Thomas More struck back with a layup ten seconds later to take a 73-72 lead. Jim Barron (Tamaqua, PA/Tamaqua) made an Etown layup at 1:03 to gibe the Blue Jays a 74-73 lead. A Thompson layup at 0:54 gave Thomas More a 75-74 lead, and Thompson made a free throw at 0:20 to extend the lead to 76-74. Kyle Conrad (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin) scored for Etown on an off-balance jumper near the top of the key with just nine seconds left to tie the score. Thomas More took the ball up the court, and Etown knocked the ball out of bounds under the Thomas More net with what was originally 0.2 second left. An additional second was then added to the clock, and Thompson scored the game-winning bucket on the following in-bound play.

Thompson led Thomas More in scoring with 26 points, and Chad Wachs (Park Hills, KY) had a double-double for the Saints, scoring 17 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Adams led Etown in scoring with 19 points, a collegiate career high, and he went nine-for-10 from the free throw line. Conrad added 15 points, and Dan Keane (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East) scored 10 for the Blue Jays. Ian Daecher (Lititz, PA/Warwick) scored nine points and led Etown in rebounds with 10.

11/21/03 6:00 p.m. at Thompson Gymnasium; Elizabethtown, Pa.
WILKES UNIVERSITY 74, ADRIAN COLLEGE 71
ADRIAN COLLEGE (0-1)
Billy Collins 10-21 4-4 26; Brian Schaefer 8-17 2-2 21; Steve Thornton 3-4 1-3 7; Jeff Nokovich 2-5 0-0 4; Mark Bohlen 2-8 0-2 4; Andy Kubish 1-2 0-0 3; Earl Ingram 1-5 0-0 2; Anthony Thornton 1-2 0-0 2; Adam Novak 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-65 7-11 71.
WILKES UNIVERSITY (1-0)
Phil Bonczewski 8-11 0-2 17; Dave Plisko 5-14 6-7 17; Rashawn Pressley 5-7 5-7 15; John Yanniello 4-7 0-0 10; John Sclafani 1-2 2-3 5; Ryan Milford 1-2 2-2 4; Joe Dorzinsky 2-5 0-0 4; Mike Morgan 1-8 0-0 2; Evan Walters 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 15-21 74.
Adrian College................ 39 32 - 71
Wilkes University............. 38 36 - 74
3-point goals-Adrian College 6-23 (Brian Schaefer 3-6; Billy Collins 2-8; Andy Kubish 1-2; Mark Bohlen 0-4; Anthony Thornton 0-1; Jeff Nokovich 0-2), Wilkes University 5-16 (John Yanniello 2-4; Phil Bonczewski 1-3; Dave Plisko 1-4; John Sclafani 1-2; Mike Morgan 0-2; Joe Dorzinsky 0-1). Fouled out--Adrian College-None, Wilkes University-None. Rebounds-Adrian College 42 (Brian Schaefer 8), Wilkes University 32 (Joe Dorzinsky 5; Dave Plisko 5). Assists-Adrian College 17 (Brian Schaefer 6), Wilkes University 17 (John Yanniello 6). Total fouls-Adrian College 23, Wilkes University 16.

11/21/03 8:00 p.m. at Thompson Gymnasium; Elizabethtown, Pa.
THOMAS MORE COLLEGE 78, ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE 76
THOMAS MORE COLLEGE (1-0)
Chris Thompson 11-17 1-2 26; Chad Wachs 8-13 1-1 17; Marcus Johnson 4-15 0-0 10; R.K. Thurman 4-6 1-2 9; Craig Russell 4-9 1-2 9; Andrae Woodard 1-3 1-2 3; Paul Hardy 1-1 0-2 2; Will Adams 1-1 0-2 2; Josh Couch 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 34-67 5-13 78.
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE (0-1)
Greg Adams 5-10 9-10 19; Kyle Conrad 5-10 2-3 15; Dan Keane 4-7 2-2 10; Ian Daecher 3-9 3-4 9; Jon Connor 3-6 0-0 7; Jim Barron 3-6 0-0 6; Andrew Flynn 2-7 1-2 5; Ben Tannous 1-5 0-0 3; Darryl Brown 1-3 0-0 2; Derrick Washington 0-2 0-0 0; Chris D'Emilio 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-66 17-21 76.
Thomas More College........... 41 37 - 78
Elizabethtown College......... 44 32 - 76
3-point goals-Thomas More College 5-18 (Chris Thompson 3-8; Marcus Johnson 2-8; Craig Russell 0-1; Josh Couch 0-1), Elizabethtown College 5-13 (Kyle Conrad 3-5; Ben Tannous 1-3; Jon Connor 1-3; Greg Adams 0-2). Fouled out--Thomas More College-None, Elizabethtown College-Jon Connor. Rebounds-Thomas More College 35 (Chad Wachs 11), Elizabethtown College 43 (Ian Daecher 10). Assists-Thomas More College 20 (Andrae Woodard 4; Marcus Johnson 4), Elizabethtown College 13 (Greg Adams 3; Andrew Flynn 3). Total fouls-Thomas More College 19, Elizabethtown College 19.