Men’s Hoops Defeated by Penn-State Altoona in Season Opener

CRESSON, PA- Four Eagles scored in double figures as the Juniata men's basketball team hung tight but ultimately was denied victory by Penn State Altoona 74-70 on Saturday night. The game was played on the campus of Mount Aloysius as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament.

Kyle Koehler led Juniata with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Nate Ogle added 15 points as he shot 4-of-8 from the floor and hit three three-point shots. In his first game in a Juniata uniform, Marcus Lee contributed 14 points as he made seven of 12 baskets. Justin Fleming chipped in 13 points.

Koehler started the game converting the traditional three-point play to give JC a 3-0 lead in the first half. An 8-0 run by the Lions, however, gave PSU-Altoona a five-point advantage at 18:31.

Juniata would close the gap to one point, 13-12, at 14:29 and but the Lions increased their lead to six points with 13 minutes remaining in the half. A 9-2 run by PSU-Altoona pushed the advantage to 27-14 at 8:11.

A 10-3 Eagles run halved the deficit to six points with 3:11 remaining in the half. Still trailing by six with 1:18 left on the clock, Koehler's three-pointer with 22 ticks left pushed the deficit down to three as the teams went into the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, PSU maintained a single digit lead for most of the period. JC did get to within two points on a dunk by Koehler with 8:52 showing on the clock. Eight straight points from the Lions, which included four free throws, gave Penn State Altoona a 10-point lead, 61-51 at 4:51.

The PSU advantage grew to as much as 12 points, 67-55, with 2:13 to play and the Lions seemed poised to cruise the rest of the way. A 15-6 run by the Eagles knocked the lead down to just three, 73-70, with six seconds remaining to play. A foul by Lee put PSU-Altoona's Tay Charles on the line for two shots. Charles missed the first attempt but converted the second to make it a 74-70. Fleming's three-point shot with two seconds left was off the mark as the Lions held on for the victory.

Juniata shot almost 43% in field goals and just over 35% in three-point shots. JC was nearly perfect at the charity stripe with an 11-for-12 (91.7%) performance.

The Eagles will face the winner of Washington College and the host Mounties. Game time will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday.