Eagles Hold Off Gators 67-63 in Season Opener

MEADVILLE, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team began its 2015-16 season on the road Tuesday night against Allegheny. The Eagles made three of four free throws in the final 24 seconds of the second half to come away with 67-63 victory.

Three Eagles scored in double figures led Marcus Lee's (Carroltown, Pa./Bishop Carroll) 14 points. Brandon Martinazzi (Cresson, Pa/Bishop Carroll) came off the bench and scored 11 points in 13 minutes of game time in his collegiate debut. Justin Fleming (Richmond, Va./Benedictine College Prep) added 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists on the night.

The Gators got out to fast start as they led 8-2 at the16:52 mark of the first half. Juniata countered with a 13-1 run within four minutes and went ahead 15-9 at the 12:52.

Allegheny came back to tie the contest at 16-all and the teams would trade three-point baskets as the score was tied at 22-22 with under eight minutes to play. Juniata would lead by no more than five points for the remainder of the half. The Gators closed the deficit as Isaiah Henderson sank two free throws with 34 ticks on the clock to reduce the Eagles' lead to 34-31 at halftime.

Allegheny took back the lead with a pair of free throws from Brian Holland and increased it to three points after Brian Schweitzer scored on a layup at 16:09. The Gator lead was still three points, 42-39 with 14:23 left until Martinazzi scored seven points off the bench to give the Eagles a 48-47 lead with just under 10 minutes to play.

The game was still a tight contest throughout as neither team could go on a significant run. It was 58-58 with 3:35 remaining until layups by Fleming and Trevor Clune (Meadville, Pa./Meadville Area) gave JC a 62-58 advantage. The Gators were able to close to 62-60 at 1:02 and after two free throws from Clune, converted a traditional three point play to make it a one point differential with 27 seconds left. Seth Brewer (Lancaster, Pa/Manheim Township) made a free throw but was off on the second one as Allegheny collected the rebound. Evan Zabriski missed on a three-point attempt to potentially give the Gators the lead and Fleming pulled down the rebound. He was fouled and made both of his free throws to secure the win.

Juniata shot 24-of-52 (46.2%) from the floor compared to 22-of-50 (44%) for the Gators. The Eagles took advantage of 10 Gator turnovers to turn it into 16 points. The Eagles bench outscored Allegheny's 24-14. Along with Martinazzi, Clune and Nate Ogle (Falls Church, Va./George Mason) pitched in four and nine points, respectively, with Clune also dishing out four assists and grabbing seven boards.

The Eagles opened up their home schedule as they host the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament this Friday and Saturday. Juniata will play Cazenovia at 7 p.m. with Mount Aloysius and Penn State Altoona opening at 5 p.m.