Men’s hoops survives Carnegie Mellon’s second half surge, wins season opener over Tartans
Juniata College survived a late scoring drought thanks to some clutch free-throw shooting by guards Jeremy Hays and Alex Raymond, and finished off visiting Carnegie Mellon University, 76-69, in Tuesday night’s men’s basketball season opener at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.
HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College survived a late scoring drought thanks to some clutch free-throw shooting by guards Jeremy Hays (McMechen, W.Va./John Marshall) and Alex Raymond (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Altoona Area), and finished off visiting Carnegie Mellon University, 76-69, in Tuesday night's men's basketball season opener at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.
Juniata (1-0) held a 17-point advantage over Carnegie Mellon (0-1) with 8:13 remaining following a Hays layup, but CMU outscored the Eagles 19-3 over the next five minutes of play to pull to within one of Juniata at 68-67.
Dan Sekulski (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) stopped the Tartan run with a 3-pointer, and Raymond hit four straight at the line sandwiched around a layup by Carnegie Mellon's Rashaun Riley, extending Juniata's lead back to 74-69 with 19 seconds remaining.
Carnegie Mellon was unable to cut into the Juniata lead any further, and Hays' pair of free throws with five seconds showing on the clock provided the insurance points in the seven-point Juniata win.
The Eagles held a seven-point lead at the intermission, and the contest remained a one-possession affair through the 12-minute mark of the second half. A Pat Cassidy (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area) layup jump started a 12-2 Juniata run lasting nearly four minutes, with Cassidy logging four points in the run and Raymond chipping in one of his two treys on the night.
Hays finished with 18 points, matching Carnegie Mellon's Asad Meghani for the game high, with seven of those coming on his 13 attempts at the free-throw line. Hays also led the Eagles on the boards with six rebounds. Raymond finished with 13 points, while Nate Higgins (St. Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic) had 11 points and five rebounds.
Juniata took full advantage of Carnegie Mellon's miscues, finishing with 21 points off 15 Tartan turnovers.
Christian Manoli also scored in double figures for the Tartans with 13 points, while Andre Moore tallied 10.
The win was Juniata's first in a season opener since the 2007-08 campaign, when the Eagles knocked off Lancaster Bible, 80-69, and marked the Eagles' first triumph Carnegie Mellon since a 64-43 win in 2001-02.
Juniata returns to action on Friday, Nov. 18, when the Eagles face Penn State Altoona in the opening round of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic hosted by Mount Aloysius College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
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