ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 12, 2000

ETOWN STAYS ALIVE IN MAC PLAYOFF HUNT WITH 78-74 WIN OVER SUSQUEHANNA

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown stayed alive in its pursuit of the fourth playoff spot in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth by defeating Susquehanna, 78-74, in a come from behind win at home Saturday night. The victory makes Etown 12-10 overall and 5-7 in the MAC Commonwealth.

The game was the reeling Crusaders' sixth consecutive defeat, and drops Susquehanna to 12-10 overall and 5-7 in the conference. Susquehanna, which three weeks ago was challenging for first place in the conference, is now in a four-way tie for fourth place and the last playoff position with Elizabethtown, Moravian and Messiah.

Etown started off strong early in the game, jumping out to an 8-2 lead in the opening three minutes. The Blue Jays extended their lead to 22-12 halfway through the first half. Susquehanna crept back into the game and tied the score at 28-28 with 3:03 to go in the half on a foul shot from Chris Rodgers (Philadelphia, PA/Penn Charter), who equaled his previous career high of 10 points set against Elizabethtown last season. The Crusaders went on a nine point scoring run, during which Rob Makarewicz (Sugarloaf, PA/Hazleton Area) scored seven, in the final two minutes to enter halftime with a 39-32 lead.

The Blue Jays managed to regain the lead and go up by as many as three points with 16 minutes to go in the second half, but Susquehanna regained the momentum and surged ahead to lead 68-58 with 7:40 remaining in the game. Over the course of the next four minutes, Elizabethtown scored eleven unanswered points to regain the lead. Susquehanna would take the lead again, but a field goal by Bob Porambo (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) at 0:57 put the Blue Jays ahead to stay. Etown added three more points in the final minute to clinch the 78-74 win.

Mark Sweet (Sadsburyville, PA/Coatesville) led the Blue Jays in scoring with 19 points, and he also pulled down eight rebounds. Chris Sattele (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) scored 14 points for Etown, and Porambo added 13 points and led the team with nine boards. Brian Marquette (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon) scored 11 points; Ross Unruh (Denver, PA/Cocalico) led Etown with five assists, and Rocky Parise (Harrisburg, PA/Bishop McDevitt) had four steals.

Corey Green (Roselle, NJ/Roselle Catholic) led Susquehanna with 17 points and six rebounds. His rebounding total tied his single-game career high.
Etown returns to action on the road Tuesday in another must-win conference game. The Blue Jays face Moravian in Bethlehem at 8:00 p.m.

At Elizabethtown, Pa.
Elizabethtown 78, Susquehanna 74