Blue Jays Outlast Gophers, Dixon Notches Career-High 17

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - Freshman John Dixon (Towson, Md./Loyola Blakefield) posted a career-high 17 points as visiting Goucher College fell 77-69 to Elizabethtown College in Landmark Conference men's basketball Wednesday evening at Thompson Gymnasium.

• Dixon put Goucher (3-11, 0-4 Landmark) on top just over a minute into the game.
• Elizabethtown (6-8, 1-3) used an 8-1 spurt to go up 10-5 just under four minutes in and extended the lead to 16-7 at the 13:53 mark.
• The Gophers cut the lead to six three times, including an Cam Isaacs (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown) three with 8:43 on the clock and a Dixon basket at 7:35 that made it 22-16.
• The Blue Jays responded with five straight points to build an 11-point cushion with 6:50 before intermission.
• The guests got the lead to seven, 31-24, on a Dixon basket with 2:55 to go.
• Neither team scored the rest of the half as Etown carried a seven-point lead into the break.

• Goucher scored the first four points of the second half as a Dixon basket made it 31-28 just under two minutes in.
• The Blue Jays scored six points in the next minute to go up 37-28.
• Down 39-30, Goucher reeled off seven straight points capped by back-to-back baskets by Octavius Johnson (Houston, Texas/Pasadena Memorial) to make it 39-37 with 13:41 remaining.
• The Gophers got the lead to one, 40-39, on Nieko White's (Churchton, Md./Southern) basket with 12:42 left.
• Etown scored the next seven points to push the lead back to eight with 10:23 left.
• Goucher stayed within striking distance, cutting the lead to six times, the last coming on a Josh Lichti (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) basket with just under four minutes to go to make it a 64-58 game.
• A 7-1 Blue Jay spurt pushed the lead to 12, 71-59 with 2:14 on the clock.
• The guests made one final push and two Justin Salisbury (Churchton, Md./Southern) free throws with 72 seconds remaining cut it to six, 73-67.
• Etown went 4-6 at the free throw line in the final minute to seal the win.

• Dixon shot 8-17 from the floor en route to his career-best 17.  He reached double figures for the sixth time this season and also had three steals.
• Lichti finished one shy of his career-high with 15 points on 5-9 shooting, including 3-3 from long range.  Lichti scored in double figures for his seventh straight game.
• Johnson narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and a career-best 12 rebounds.  He added three steals.
• Isaacs was 6-6 at the free throw line and added nine points, while freshman Tevin Venson (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) finished with nine points as well.
• Goucher shot 39.3% for the game, was 5-15 behind the arc and 16-23 at the free throw line. The Gophers narrowly outrebounded the Blue Jays 35-34.
• Etown was 46.9% overall, 6-15 from three and 25-31 at the foul line.
• The Gophers finished with 11 steaks, matching their second-highest total for the season.

MBB | Octavius Johnson backs down a defender as his back-to-back layups early in the second half brought @Goucher_MBB within two at Elizabethtown.#d3hoops #GopherGreatness pic.twitter.com/02eJ2OQmA3

— Goucher Gophers (@GoucherSports) January 20, 2022

• Goucher remains on the road Saturday, traveling to Susquehanna for a 2 pm Landmark Conference contest.
• The Gophers return home Monday, January 24, hosting Juniata in a 7 pm makeup contest at the Decker Sports and Recreation Center.  Spectators are currently not permitted at Goucher home sporting events.