Cougars Fend Off Eagles
PITTSBURGH, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team couldn't quite climb out of an early hole as they lost on the road at Chatham, 64-59, Tuesday evening inside AFC.
Nick Rigby (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon H.S.) got things started with a jumper off a pass from Kyle Ruggery (Duncansville, PA / Bishop Guilfoyle HS). He made two free throws and a jumper over the next few minutes to keep JC close as the Cougars led by four, 10-6.
The Eagles went cold from the floor over the next few minutes as they didn't score for nearly seven minutes as the hosts went on a 14-0 run. An Evan Eisenhart (York, Pa. / Central York H.S.) jumper broke the cold spell to make it 21-8, and Rigby tacked on another jumper. The Cougars countered with a jumper with a little over six minutes to go in the half. From there, the Eagle defense closed the door and shut out Chatham for the remainder of the half. Kohl Bernarding (Cochranton, Pa. / Cochranton H.S.), Chase Husted (DuBois, Pa. / DuBois Area HS) converted a jumper off a pass from Eisenhart, and Rigby scored off a feed from Ruggery to bring JC within seven to close the half at 23-16.
The Eagles continued to close the gap with a John Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic High School) jumper and a Michael Montecalvo (Altoona, Pa. / Bishop Guilfoyle HS) three, bringing JC within three at 31-28 with 13 minutes to play.
The Cougars used back-to-back threes to extend their lead back to 10 over the next few minutes. Juniata kept hanging around, with a Kelly jumper and a Rigby jumper pulling JC within four at 47-43.
Chatham responded with an 8-2 run, which the Eagles with a 10-point hole to crawl out of with 10 minutes to play. Eisenhart drilled a three, and Rigby scored his 24th point of the game off an assist from Ruggery to make it 55-50.
Juniata couldn't get any closer as the Cougars hung on to win by five.
The Eagles will return to action on December 4th at home against Moravian at 2:00.