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Crosseover: 'Nova lax commit Delaney boosting EA through Inter-Ac

02/02/2016, 8:00pm EST
By Stephen Pianovich

Connor Delaney (right) scored 17 points, including nine from the foul line, in Episcopal's 60-58 win over Malvern on Tuesday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Episcopal Academy saw firsthand the importance of late-game free throws Tuesday afternoon against Malvern Prep.

The Churchmen missed multiple opportunities from the foul line in the game’s final minute, leaving the door open for their Inter-Ac foe. Episcopal (15-5, 6-1 Inter-Ac) ultimately held on for a 60-58 win and was fortunate for two things: The Friars’ desperation heave at the buzzer missed the mark and Conner Delaney was nearly automatic from the foul line.

Delaney, a junior guard, finished with 17 points and nine of them came from the foul line, where he missed just one of his 10 attempts.

“We work on it so much in practice that my comfort level in those situations from the beginning of the season until now has just busted through the roof,” said Delaney, who also made some clutch attempts from the charity stripe in the Churchmen’s first win against Malvern (13-10, 5-3) this season. “I don’t really remember myself missing a lot in the last five or six games, so it gives me confidence if I’m on the line at the end of the game, I’m going to make two most of the time.”

Delaney has been a key piece in the Episcopal attack in his first season as the starting point guard. And while he loves basketball, his collegiate future lies on the lacrosse field.

Last year Delaney committed to play Division-I lacrosse just down the road at Villanova, but the two-sport star wasn’t going to give up his time on the court because of it.

“I’ve played basketball since I can remember,” Delaney said. “There was never a time I was going to stop playing basketball. I love the sport. I really can’t pick which one I like better, it’s more of an in-season thing. When I’m in season with one, I love it. I’m all in on basketball right now.”

He added that there are some definite similarities to the two sports. As a defender in lacrosse, Delaney often has his head up, looking for open teammates and opportunity, which is like when he’s dribbling up the court in basketball.

Averaging 10.4 points per game, the Churchmen are lucky to have him not shy away from the hardwood, and Delaney noted he never received pressure from lacrosse coaches to give up playing basketball.

“He’s a special individual, that’s for sure,” Episcopal coach Craig Conlin said. “As a Division-I athlete, he brings that toughness to us. He also brings great intelligence and he’s learned a lot in the last two years. …And to be able to put the ball in the hands of a point guard like that who can knock down free throws, that’s huge.”

In addition to the push at the foul line and elsewhere from Delaney, the Churchmen also got 18 points and 10 rebounds from Nick Alikakos, the Inter-Ac’s leading scorer and another 16 points from Matt Woods – who hit a pair of 3-pointers.

Another aspect which aided Episcopal was its ability to defend the perimeter against a Malvern side that likes to run and shoot threes. The Friars went the whole first half without making a 3-pointer, hit just one of their first 14 and a total of three for the game.

“I thought our 3-point defense was outstanding tonight,” Conlin said. “To hold them to three made threes is an outstanding job. My assistants put together a terrific gameplan and we executed it to perfection.”

Will Powers led the Friars offensively with 16 points and hit one of those triples. Meanwhile, Tommy Wolfe (10), Ray Baran (9) and Mike Narzikul (8) combined for 27 points.

The win for Episcopal sets up the biggest game of the season in the Inter-Ac on Friday night, as the Churchmen travel to face Germantown Academy, also 7-1 in league play. GA has won the last three conference crowns, but Episcopal already beat the Patriots once this season and another win would put them in position to dethrone them.

The Churchmen will carry a six-game conference winning streak with them into Friday’s affair, and Conlin said it’s been a league-opening loss to Penn Charter which has really kept his squad motivated.

“We got a lot of mileage out of that,” he said. “We talked about having no regrets the next day and that pain of regret not coming out ready to play against Penn Charter, and that pain broke our hearts. I’m really proud of our guys because we did our setup work to set ourselves up for this game.”


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