Eagles Hold Off Marymount 69-65 To Remain Unbeaten

ARLINGTON, Va.- The Juniata men's basketball team recovered from an early first deficit to overtake and defeat Marymount 69-65 on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles are 5-0 for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

Juniata trailed 13-4 at the 12:30 mark of the second half. A 10-4 Eagle run cut the Saints lead to 17-14 with 11:11 left to play.

A layup by the Saints at 8:14 made it 21-15 at 8:14. A 7-0 JC run, capped off by a three-point shot by Brandon Martinazzi (Cresson, Pa./Bishop Carroll), gave Juniata a 22-21 lead with 5:29 to play in the first half. Marymount added three free throws to go ahead 24-22. Kyle Koehler (Chester Springs, Pa./Devon Prep) drained a three-pointer at 4:26 but again the Saints went ahead with a jumper and a pair of free throws. Martinazzi answered for the Eagles with a pair of three-point baskets and Marcus Lee (Carrolltown, Pa./Bishop Carroll) and Nate Ogle (Falls Church, Va./George Mason) chipped in layups to lead a 10-0 Eagle run to end the first half and give Juniata a 35-28 advantage at the half.

In the second half, jump shots by Justin Fleming (Richmond, Va./Benedictine College Prep) and Dennis Fisher (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle Area) increased the Eagle lead to 39-28. The Saints kept up in the game and trailed only by 56-54 with 6:18 showing on the game clock.

A traditional three-point play by Fleming at 3:43 gave JC a 63-58 advantage. A layup by Marymount's Dmitri Rucker followed by a three pointer by D'Ontre Stockman tied the contest at 63-all with 2:28 left to play.

Juniata took the lead for good on Ogle's big three-point shot with exactly a minute left to play. Marymount answered with a basket by Michael Anderson but a three-point play by Lee would seal the game for the Eagles to give them the win.

Lee led all scorers with 23 points and also pulled down eight rebounds. Martinazzi totaled 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Ogle was good on all four of his shot attempts for 10 points and grabbed four rebounds.

As a team, the Eagles hit 28-of-53 (52.8%) of its field goals and only missed one of its free throw attempts (7-of-8 87.5%). The Juniata bench gave a big boost as it contributed 23 points in the win.

Juniata returns to Memorial Gymnasium this Wednesday when it hosts Elizabethtown in the Landmark opener for both teams. Game time will be at 7:00 pm.