SELINSGROVE, PA – As the season moves into its final two weeks, both the Susquehanna University men’s and women’s basketball teams remain in the chase for the Commonwealth Conference playoffs, with the men’s team vying for first place while the women chase the fourth and final spot.

The Crusader men have moved into a tie for second place in the Commonwealth Conference with Elizabethtown at 7-3, just one game behind first-place Moravian at 8-2. Susquehanna does not have an opponent left that they have not beaten, and with two wins this week the team would clinch their second consecutive playoff slot and would put itself into position to possibly win the conference.

The Susquehanna women snapped their six-game losing streak on Saturday night with a 74-54 victory at Albright after faltering down the stretch in home losses to Lebanon Valley and McDaniel. The Crusaders are currently 4-6 in conference play and stand one game behind fourth-place Widener for the final playoff spot in the Commonwealth Conference.

MEN’S REPORT

The men’s basketball team cruised to two wins against Commonwealth Conference opponents Lebanon Valley and Albright this week to regain a tie for second-place in the conference race.

The Crusaders (13-7 overall, 7-3 Commonwealth) were led in both games by junior guard Dan Rathmell (Windsor, NY/Windsor H.S.) who had a team-high 17 points in the 80-65 win vs. Lebanon Valley on Wednesday and a team-high 12 points in the 74-54 win at Albright on Saturday.

Rathmell shot 6-of-8 from the field Wednesday, including 2-of-2 from behind the three-point arc, and followed that with a 2-of-4 performance from downtown at Albright.

Rathmell leads the Crusader bench in scoring, as his average of 10.7 points per contest is 20th in the conference. Rathmell is also seventh in the conference in three-point percentage at 40.6 (26-of-64).

Senior guard Tim Hurd (Montvale, NJ/Pascack Hills H.S.) also scored in double-figures in each win, notching 14 points and six rebounds vs. Lebanon valley and 11 points and five rebounds at Albright.

Hurd leads the team in scoring average vs. conference opponents, averaging 14.2 points per game while averaging 12.4 overall. Hurd is ninth in the conference in free-throw percentage at 78.8 percent (83-for-103), 11th in the conference in blocks (0.88 per game), 12th in the conference in field goal percentage at 47.6 percent (79-of 166) and 14th in rebounds (4.6 per game).

Sophomore forward Bubba Mills (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic H.S.) also had two double-digit performances, notching 12 points and five rebounds on five-of-seven shooting from the floor. Against Albright on Saturday, Mills hauled off a double-double in front of his hometown crowd with 11 points and 10 boards. Mills is third in the conference in field-goal percentage at 57.1 (60-of-105).

Junior guard Chris Zimmerman (Coal Township, PA/Shamokin Area H.S.) notched 12 points in the win over the Dutchmen, while against Albright on Saturday, he scored four points, while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out five assists.

Zimmerman leads the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game, to place 11th in the conference. He is also the league leader in assists per game (6.06), second in three-point percentage (22-of-50, 44 percent), sixth in steals (1.88 per game) and eighth in free-throw percentage (59-of-72, 81.9 percent).

Freshman center Walter Fowler (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley H.S.) scored eight points and added four rebounds and two blocks at Albright and notched three blocks against Lebanon Valley. Fowler’s 51 blocks leads the conference and is only three blocks from the school’s single-season record set by Bruce Merklinger during the 1985-86 season.

Saturday, junior forward Phil Sander (Walton, NY/ Walton Central H.S.) notched 12 points, four rebounds, and three assists in 17 minutes off the bench. Sander has played in 14 games since returning from abroad this semester, and has averaged 3.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per game.

WOMEN’S REPORT

Junior Courtney Sokol scored 14 points to lead Susquehanna to a 65-35 win at Albright on Saturday, snapping the Crusaders’ six-game losing streak and keeping them in contention for the final playoff slot in the Commonwealth Conference.

Sokol (Falmouth, MA/Falmouth H.S.) shot 4-of-10 from the field and collected two rebounds and two assists in just 14 minutes on the floor. Nine of her points came in the first half as the Crusaders (11-8 overall, 4-6 Commonwealth) held the Lions to 26 percent shooting from the field and took a commanding 29-14 lead at halftime.

Senior Alison Ream (Elliotsburg, PA/Juniata H.S.) scored in double-figures for the Crusaders with 12 points, including 2-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. She also dished out four assists.

Leading rebounders for Susquehanna were senior Kait Gillis (Mechanicsburg, PA/Trinity H.S.) and sophomore Andrea Carlson (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown H.S.), who pulled down six rebounds apiece. Carlson added eight points on 4-of-4 shooting.

On Thursday, the Crusaders fell to visiting McDaniel 60-52, as both teams shot a woeful 30 percent from the field. The Crusaders held a 25-23 lead at halftime as the Green Terror shot just 22 percent from the field, but McDaniel grabbed the lead for good with just over 10 minutes left and stifled several Crusader rallies down the stretch.

Sophomore Skyra Blanchard (Brooklyn, NY/Lewisburg (PA) H.S.) recorded her first-ever double-double and the team’s first this season with 19 rebounds and 14 points, both career-highs. Despite playing only 22 minutes, she shot 6-of-7 from the field and became the first Crusader to total 19 rebounds since Karyn Kern did it against Lebanon Valley on Jan. 9, 2001. Blanchard also blocked three shots and recorded both an assist and a steal on the night.

Ream added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists while missing only one minute of game action. Senior Emily Kurtz (St. Marys, PA/St. Marys H.S.) chipped in eight points, two rebounds and an assist.

Overall, Ream leads the Crusaders with 13.7 points and 3.0 assists per game and is fourth in rebounding with 4.2 boards per contest. Among Commonwealth leaders, Ream is third in scoring and six in assists. She has shot a team-high .360 from outside the 3-point arc, sixth in among top shooters in the Commonwealth, and her .720 percentage from the free-throw line, also best on the squad, ranks 10th in the conference.

Leading the Crusaders with an average of 7.9 rebounds per game, Blanchard ranks sixth in the conference in the category. She leads the team with 20 blocked shots for an average of 1.05 per contest, fifth-best among top performers in the Commonwealth.

Also among team leaders, Sokol is second in scoring and rebounding with 8.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. She has blocked 16 shots to average 0.94 blocks per game, placing her 10th in the conference.

Kurtz is fourth on the squad in scoring with 6.5 points per game. Averaging 1.9 rebounds per game, she has dished out 24 assists.

Senior Maggie Endler (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin H.S.) ranks fifth in scoring with 5.3 points per game while starting nine of 19 games. She has hauled in 2.7 rebounds per contest and distributed 46 assists, the second-highest total on the team. Her defensive alertness has helped her record 19 steals, the third-best mark on the squad.

Carlson has continued to provide a needed inside presence off the bench with 5.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in just under 16 minutes per game. She has nailed more than 47 percent of her attempts from the field and has blocked nine shots.