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Juniata College
Evan Eisenhart
February 19, 2021

Rangers Eke Past Eagles in OT

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men’s basketball team came up just short in a wild overtime loss to visiting Drew, 72-69, Friday evening inside Memorial Gymnasium.

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HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team came up just short in a wild overtime loss to visiting Drew, 72-69, Friday evening inside Memorial Gymnasium.

Drew opened the scoring with a three. Evan Eisenhart (York, Pa. / Central York H.S.) scored the first Eagle points with a pair of foul shots, the Rangers came back with a layup before Kyle Ruggery (Duncansville, PA / Bishop Guilfoyle HS) swung it to Cameron Keck (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro) who drilled a three from the top of the key to make it 5-5. Chase Husted (DuBois, Pa. / DuBois Area HS) found Keck on the right-wing, and he found the bottom of the net for another three with a defender in his face to make it 8-7. 

Drew tried to turn the Eagles over with some three-quarters court pressure, but the Eagles handled the pressure for the most part and found some easy scores.

The teams went back and forth over the next several minutes, with the Eagles opening the largest lead of the half on another Keck triple, this one off a Marcus Hall (York, Pa. / Trinity) assist. Drew pulled even at 22 with five minutes to go in the half and pulled ahead for a moment on a free throw. Hall gave the Eagles the lead back on a shot from the left side of the paint from about 10 feet out. The visitors responded with a layup before Ruggery knocked down two free throws to send the Eagles into the locker room up 27-25.  

The Rangers cranked up the pressure in the second half and, in the first six and half minutes of the second, used a 19-7 run to lead 44-32. 

John Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic High School) broke the nearly four-minute cold spell for JC with a pair of free throws. Following a Ranger turnover, Nick Rigby (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon H.S.) scored a difficult layup in the paint to cut the deficit to eight. Two possessions later, Rigby ripped an offensive rebound away from a Drew player and found Ruggery on the other side of the paint for an easy layup. Drew split some foul shots before Eisenhart got in the paint and found Husted, who pump, faked his defender into the air before laying the ball in off the glass. 

Drew tried to hold the Eagles off, but Juniata would not fold, relying on their defense to get stops and get them back in the game. With two and half minutes to go in the game, JC executed a high-low to perfection as Rigby found Husted over the top of the defense to put Juniata ahead, 55-54.

Drew tied things on a free throw and retook the lead with a layup. Eisenhart took the ensuing inbound pass and went the length of the floor, and laid the ball in off the glass through contact to tie things at 57-57. 

 

The Rangers nailed a shot with a foot on the three-point line, and Rigby drove from the left-wing and scored in traffic to tie the score again. Both teams had looks late, with the last one another Rigby drive from the left-wing that was tipped away at the buzzer to send the game into OT. 

Drew struck first from the foul line; on the next possession, Rigby found Eisenhart alone at the top of the key, and he nailed the three to put the hosts back up one. Drew answered with a jumper, and Eisenhart came back on the other end and converted a one dribble pull-up jumper from the right side to make it 64-43 Eagles. Keck got into a passing lane, stole the ball, and brought the ball up the court. Juniata got into their offense, which ended up with Eisenhart catching the ball on the left-wing, rising, and splashing a three to push the lead to four. 

Drew made one of two free throws before Eisenhart took a hand-off from Kelly on the right side and pulled up on the right-wing to make it 69-64 with two and half minutes to go. 

The Rangers got within one in the final 47 seconds on a layup. Juniata ran the clock down but couldn't get a good look as they had to force a shot as the shot clock expired. A Drew player drove from the right side and avoided two JC defenders to lay it in and give them a 70-69 lead. Following Ranger timeout, Eisenhart got the inbounds pass and raced up the floor. He got into the paint but lost his footing, and Drew got to the loose ball first. The Eagles quickly fouled, but there was only one second on the clock to go the length of the floor. Husted caught the long pass from Kelly but couldn't get a shot off in time.  

The Eagles will return to play at Drew, Sunday at 4:00.