Chris Fairbanks added 14 points and four rebounds off the bench for the Blue Jays (7-12 overall, 2-7 Commonwealth), who snapped a seven-game losing streak in large part by connecting on 28-of-34 foul shots in the contest.
Kevin Cuff added 21 points and eight rebounds while Andy Gaebel came off the bench to scored 18 points for the Crusaders (13-7 overall, 5-4 Commonwealth), who committed 16 of their 20 turnovers in the opening half and trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half before pulling within a point with 2:14 to play.
Piersol finished 10-for-10 from the foul line for Elizabethtown including 9-for-9 in the second half, as the Blue Jays finished 17-for-22 from the stripe in the second half. Michael Schatzmann joined Piersol and Fairbanks in double figures for Elizabethtown with 12 points.
Susquehanna placed four players in double figures, with Joel Patch finishing with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds and Brad Okonak tallying 11 points, three rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes off the Crusader bench.
Elizabethtown led for the majority of the first half, turning a 29-27 advantage into a 40-29 edge with 3:01 left on a three-point play by Piersol. The Blue Jays led 43-35 at halftime behind 10 points by Schatzmann, while Okonak drilled a trio of three-pointers and paced the Crusaders with 11 points in the half.
Susquehanna fought back to a 46-46 tie with 16:16 left on a three-pointer by Bryan Majors, but the Blue Jays promptly reeled off 11 consecutive points – seven by Piersol – to take a 57-46 lead with 11:33 remaining on a layup by Billy Orr.
The Crusaders trailed 62-52 with 8:08 remaining, but used eight straight points by Gaebel to cut the Blue Jay lead to 62-60 with 6:33 to go. Elizabethtown went back ahead 69-64 with 3:30 left, but Cuff hit two foul shots and a layup to bring the Crusaders within 69-68 with 2:14 remaining.
Greg Brizek then converted a three-point play with 2:02 to go to give the Blue Jays a 72-68 lead, and a technical foul against the Crusaders allowed Piersol to hit two free throws to extend the Elizabethtown advantage to 74-68. The Blue Jays then put the game away at the foul line by going 4-for-5 in the next minute to take an 82-70 lead with 48 seconds left.
Elizabethtown finished at 44.1 percent (26-for-59) from the field in the game while Susquehanna shot 41.3 percent (26-for-63) in the contest, including 9-for-26 from three-point range compared to 4-for-15 by the Blue Jays. Elizabethtown finished with a 41-37 edge in rebounds with four players tied for the team high with five boards apiece.
ELIZABETHTOWN 84, SUSQUEHANNA 74 ELIZABETHTOWN (7-12, 2-7 Comm) Chad Piersol 3-7 10-10 17; Chris Fairbanks 6-8 1-2 14; Michael Schatzmann 4-11 3-3 12; Greg Brizek 2-5 5-7 9; Luke Ledyard 4-8 0-0 8; Mike Church 3-6 2-4 8; Kris Kieres 1-7 2-2 5; Brian Goodwin 1-2 1-2 3; Bryce Rodgers 0-1 2-2 2; Jordan Dirago 1-1 0-0 2; Phil Schaffer 0-2 2-2 2; Billy Orr 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-59 28-34 84. SUSQUEHANNA (13-7, 5-4 Comm) Kevin Cuff 7-16 7-8 21; Andy Gaebel 5-11 4-4 18; Joel Patch 7-11 0-0 14; Brad Okonak 4-9 0-0 11; Bryan Majors 2-7 2-3 7; Matt McDevitt 1-5 0-2 3; Brandon Andersen 0-1 0-0 0; Chad Cohle 0-1 0-0 0; Zac Smith 0-2 0-0 0; Todd DeNapoli 0-0 0-0 0; Moose Marshall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-63 13-17 74. Elizabethtown................. 43 41 - 84 Susquehanna................... 35 39 - 74 3-point goals-Elizabethtown 4-15 (Michael Schatzmann 1-7; Kris Kieres 1-4; Chad Piersol 1-2; Chris Fairbanks 1-1; Greg Brizek 0-1), Susquehanna 9-26 (Andy Gaebel 4-8; Brad Okonak 3-8; Bryan Majors 1-3; Matt McDevitt 1-2; Zac Smith 0-2; Kevin Cuff 0-3). Fouled out--Elizabethtown-Luke Ledyard, Susquehanna-None. Rebounds-Elizabethtown 41 (Brian Goodwin 5; Chad Piersol 5; Mike Church 5; Luke Ledyard 5), Susquehanna 37 (Joel Patch 9). Assists-Elizabethtown 14 (Mike Church 3; Chad Piersol 3; Brian Goodwin 3), Susquehanna 19 (Bryan Majors 5). Total fouls-Elizabethtown 18, Susquehanna 23. A-575