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"We were definitely frustrated," Elizabethtown College's junior forward said of the Blue Jays' season-opening loss to Manhattanville Sunday — a game the Jays felt they should have won.
"That wasn't the way we wanted to start off. But we needed to refocus and I thought we did that (Tuesday) in practice."
It took E-town about three minutes to prove it Wednesday night.
Powered by a game-high 22 points from Flanagan and a smothering defense that helped it build a 10-0 lead 3:18 into the contest, E-town eventually rolled to an 82-52 non-conference victory over Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster.
"I was pleased with our effort and our execution," E-town coach Bob Schlosser offered afterward. "I thought we played unselfishly and we certainly played pretty hard … so, it's a process. We're hopefully getting better. Sunday was a wakeup call and now it's back to business."
E-town wasted no time in taking that business to the Chargers, who turned the ball over on their first eight trips to fall into that aforementioned 10-0 hole.
"That's kind of what we're struggling with right now is handling pressure, and (the Jays) bring it about as good as anybody," said LBC coach Pete Beers, whose team was coming off a 96-53 season-opening loss to Eastern Mennonite University Sunday. "They came out hard and we didn't. They muscled us up and we wilted a little bit."
Thanks to five points apiece from guard Madison Warfel (team-high 13 points) and forward Eric Nulf (10 points, game-high seven rebounds), the Chargers cut the lead to 12-10 with 14:35 left in the first half.
But powered by a defense that forced 16 LBC turnovers by halftime, E-town responded with a 28-7 run over the next 11 minutes, giving it a commanding 40-17 edge with 3:15 left before the break.
The Blue Jays, who shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the first half, led 55-22 at halftime.
"We came out and set the tone and did it the way we want to do it … with pressure," Schlosser said.
"That's our style," said Flanagan, a Lancaster Mennonite graduate. "We like to outwork people. We came out strong, we forced turnovers and that gets us easy buckets on offense."
Mark Vogel (13 points), a reserve guard from Hempfield, and center Mike Church (11), a Solanco product, also scored in double figures for E-town, which played the majority of the second half with its starters on the bench.
In the end, the Jays got minutes from every player on their 16-man roster — a roster that forced 26 LBC turnovers by game's end while holding the Chargers to 33.3 percent shooting as a team.
"We have E-town (on our schedule) for one reason, to get better," said Beers, whose program is 0-3 all-time against E-town. "And tonight (the Jays) took care of what they needed to and hopefully it was a good lesson for us."
And perhaps, a positive turning point for E-town.
"I think we're on the right track again," Flanagan said.
Sure seemed that way Wednesday.
