River Hawks Hold Narrow Lead Over Eagles
SELINSGROVE, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team was unable to completely close a seven-point deficit at halftime in a 60-56 matchup with Susquehanna University on Wednesday evening.
Chase Husted collected his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the contest to lead scoring for Junita, going 50% from the field and 6-for-6 on free throws. Evan Eisenhart (12) and Nick Rigby (11) also tallied double digits for Juniata.
Susquehanna opened the contest with an 8-0 run that a layup, three, and another layup. Four minutes in, Husted found Ross Conway driving in from the left to put Juniata on the board. Susquehanna followed with a layup on the next possession to get them ahead 10-2. A Tyler Lapetina layup with an Eisenhart layup plus an and-one put Juniata within three through seven minutes.
A jumper with an and-one for the River Hawks gave them a six-point gap, which they consistently built to a 23-13 margin with six points remaining. Over the next two minutes, Rigby drew two fouls and sank all four of his free throw attempts, putting Juniata six back at 23-17. The sides traded layups for the next two possessions before a Susquehanna three opened the gap back up to nine points with two minutes to play.
The Eagles ended the half with two free throws on each side of a Susquehanna layup, which put Juniata seven points from the lead at halftime with a 32-25 margin. Juniata was a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe in the first but struggled from the field, shooting 25.9% to Susquehanna's 44.8%. They were unable to convert any of their nine three-point attempts.
Susquehanna opened the second half with four points in the first two minutes, with Gabe Guidinger opening the scoring for Juniata with an open three from the left wing. Husted rebounded a missed shot on the next possession and put in a layup to get Juniata within six points. He earned a foul a possession later and hit both of his free throws. Susquehanna followed this with a layup, but Juniata's Kyle Ruggery sank a three from the left wing to get the Eagles to 38-35.
Two layups and a free throw from Rigby in the next couple of minutes offset two River Hawks layups and a free throw, and they stayed three back with nine minutes to play. Susquehanna followed this with a 9-4 run in the next two minutes to open the lead back up to eight points.
Susquehanna called timeout with seven minutes remaining with this margin, but the Eagles returned from the break with some resistance. Husted hit both of his free throws on Juniata's first possession, followed by a River Hawks layup. On the next possession, Husted handed the ball to Eisenhart on the left wing, who stepped back for another three for a 54-49 score.
Bernarding snagged a loose ball on Susquehanna's next possession, and Eisenhart was able to hit a step-back jumper to get Juniata within a score. A Susquehanna free throw gave them a four-point lead. Eisenhart found Husted open in the paint on the next play, and he sank a loud dunk to put Juniata two points behind.
Susquehanna followed this with two straight layups for a six-point cushion. Ruggery earned a foul on a three attempt, and he sank all three of his free throws for a three-point margin. Juniata turned the ball over on their next possession, followed by a Susquehanna free throw to end the game at 60-56.
Both teams shot at 34% for the half, and Juniata was better on threes (33.3% vs. 0%), but the River Hawks totaled 26 rebounds to Juniata's 18 in a back-and-forth second half. Juniata was an effective 90.5% on free throws on the day but shot 30.4% from the field against Susquehanna's 39.3%.
The defeat drops Juniata into third place on Landmark Conference tiebreaking rules and level on record with Scranton following their overtime victory against Drew this evening. Both sides stand two games ahead of fifth-place Moravian with three games left.
The Eagles return to Memorial Gymnasium this Saturday at 4:00 pm for a Senior Day matchup against the Moravian Greyhounds. Juniata held off a late charge from Moravian in Bethlehem in early January, as Husted posted his third double-double of the season (18 points, 12 rebounds), and five threes from Eisenhart led him to a team-high 19 points off the bench.