women’s basketball wins cc opener

Men’s Basketball Comeback Not Enough The Muhlenberg men’s basketball team came a long way back, but not as far back as it needed to, and suffered its first loss of the season, 71-63 at New Jersey. The Mules, who gave up only 49 points in the Scotty Wood Tournament championship game against Marymount, allowed nearly that many to the Lions in the first half. TCNJ shot 58.3 percent in the first half and led 46-30 at the break. Muhlenberg gradually cut into the lead in the second half as TCNJ cooled off. Down 61-50 with just under seven minutes left, the Mules scored the next seven points to trim the spread to four with 3:42 to play. They had a possession down four with the clock nearing two minutes, but the Lions stole the ball and made a shot, then hit six free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Junior Peter Barnes had a phenomenal game, scoring a career-high 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He also pulled down nine rebounds and blocked four shots. Sophomore Evan Tozer also established a new career high, scoring 17 points. Click here for box score. Click here for complete stats.

Chili had three assists and two blocked shots in addition to her 19 points.

In a couple of days many Americans will cook turkey, but for the Muhlenberg women’s basketball team the recipe for success in its first Centennial Conference game was Boyle Chili.

Senior Lauren Boyle and freshman Alexandra Chili combined for 40 points, including all 10 in the decisive run, as the Mules began defense of their 2008 CC title with a 72-63 win at Gettysburg.

Muhlenberg and Gettysburg came in 1-2, respectively, in the CC preseason poll. Last year, the Mules lost to the Bullets in their first CC game before coming back to beat them in the CC championship contest.

Gettysburg (2-2), which led by as many as 10 points (21-11) in the first half, held a 55-53 lead at the seven-minute mark before Muhlenberg (3-0) made its move. Chili began the run by making a pair of free throws to tie the score for the eighth time. Boyle then drove in for a layup, Chili hit her fifth three-pointer of the game, and Boyle finished the run with a three-point play.

The Bullets scored the next bucket, but the Mules ran off the next three to take a 69-57 lead with just over two minutes remaining.

Muhlenberg, ranked 24th in the D3hoops.com preseason poll and 23rd in the first Women’s Basketball Coaches Association poll of the new season, shot 61.5 percent from the field in the second half after being held to 41.4-percent shooting by Gettysburg’s zone in the first 20 minutes.

Chili was a big reason for the improvement, making all five of her three-pointers in the second half. She finished the game 5-for-8 from long distance and scored a career-high 19 points. Boyle scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, and sophomore Kelly McKeon added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The Mules blocked eight shots, one short of the school record. Senior Erin McSherry had three of the blocks to move within two of the program’s all-time record.
Click here for box score.
Click here for complete stats.