ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 23, 2008

Widener Drops Elizabethtown 84-68 in Season Finale

Click here for the box score

CHESTER, Pa. --- Nyere Miller finished 7-for-11 from three-point range and scored a game-high 26 points to lead Widener University to an 84-68 victory over Elizabethtown College in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.

Charles Jones added 19 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Pride (20-5 overall, 6-4 Commonwealth), who used runs of 13-0 in the first half and 17-2 in the second half and went 13-for-27 overall from three-point range to earn the victory over the Blue Jays (15-9 overall, 2-8 Commonwealth).

Senior Chad Piersol (Elverson, PA/Owen J. Roberts) led Elizabethtown with 19 points and six rebounds while sophomore Mike Church (Peach Bottom, PA/Solanco) tallied 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. However, Elizabethtown finished just 2-for-19 on three-point attempts as a team, including 1-for-11 in the second half.

Widener earned the third seed in next week's Commonwealth Conference playoffs and will play at Albright College in a semifinal game on Wednesday night. Lebanon Valley College will play at top-seeded Lycoming College in Wednesday's other semifinal contest.

Elizabethtown led 54-52 with 10:35 to play, but Jones hit a three-pointer on Widener's next possession to give the Pride the lead for good at 55-54. Widener would go on to score 14 of the game's next 16 points, including a pair of three-pointers by Miller, to take a 69-56 lead with 6:44 left.

In the first half, the Blue Jays scored the first six points of the contest and held a 12-6 lead with 13:34 remaining in the half. However, consecutive three-pointers by Miller tied the score at 12-12 just 33 seconds later, and Widener would go on to lead by as many as seven points before taking a 35-32 lead to halftime.

The Pride held a 44-34 lead with 17:30 to play, but the Blue Jays tied the game with a 13-3 run at 47-47 following a three-pointer by senior Mike Schatzmann (Paradise, PA/Pequea Valley) with 15:09 left.

Schatzmann finished with 11 points for the Blue Jays, while fellow senior Bryce Rodgers (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro) added eight points and four rebounds in 23 minutes of action.

WIDENER UNIVERSITY 84, ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE 68
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE (15-9, 2-8 CC)
Chad Piersol 8-17 2-3 19; Mike Church 9-14 0-0 18; Mike Schatzmann 3-10 4-8 11; Bryce Rodgers 3-5 2-2 8; Phil Schaffer 1-2 1-2 3; Josh Houseal 1-4 1-2 3; Keith Fogel 1-4 0-0 2; Brady Haughney 1-2 0-0 2; Jordan Dirago 1-3 0-1 2; Joe Flanagan 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Stein 0-3 0-0 0; Ben Schlosser 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 10-18 68.
WIDENER UNIVERSITY (20-5, 6-4 CC)
Nyere Miller 8-14 3-4 26; Charles Jones 7-13 3-4 19; Jamarr Johnson 3-6 3-4 9; Matt Sosna 2-5 3-3 8; Tavaris Smith 2-4 0-0 6; Jarrell Nelson 2-6 1-2 5; Bobby Edmunds 1-6 2-4 5; Branden Washington 2-3 0-4 4; Tracy Jones 1-3 0-0 2; Chris McDevitt 0-1 0-0 0; Tim Vanderslice 0-0 0-0 0; Jon Evans 0-1 0-0 0; Ricky Anger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 15-25 84.
Elizabethtown College......... 32 36 - 68
Widener University............ 35 49 - 84
3-point goals--Elizabethtown College 2-19 (Chad Piersol 1-5; Mike Schatzmann 1-7; Josh Houseal 0-2; Brady Haughney 0-1; Jordan Dirago 0-1; Matt Stein 0-1; Mike Church 0-2), Widener University 13-27 (Nyere Miller 7-11; Charles Jones 2-4; Tavaris Smith 2-4; Matt Sosna 1-2; Bobby Edmunds 1-4; Chris McDevitt 0-1; Jon Evans 0-1). Fouled out--Elizabethtown College-Mike Schatzmann, Widener University-None. Rebounds--Elizabethtown College 40 (Mike Church 6; Phil Schaffer 6; Chad Piersol 6), Widener University 40 (Jamarr Johnson 9). Assists--Elizabethtown College 17 (Mike Church 5; Phil Schaffer 5), Widener University 23 (Bobby Edmunds 7). Total fouls--Elizabethtown College 17, Widener University 19. Technical fouls--Elizabethtown College-None, Widener University-None.