Colonels Clip Eagles Wings in Landmark Quarterfinals

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Juniata men's basketball team lost in heartbreaking fashion to Wilkes University, 74-71, Tuesday evening in the Landmark Conference Quarterfinals. 

Chase Husted totaled 23 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block, while Evan Eisenhart tallied 22 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block. 

Eisenhart buried a deep three from the left wing as the shot clock expired to open the scoring. Wilkes scored on the other end inside, and Eisenhart drilled another three for the Eagles, this one from the top of the key. The senior guard from York, Pa., turned provider as he found Husted for a layup inside. 

The Colonels scored six straight to tie things at eight all.

Tyler Lapetina got the ball at the top of the key, got his defender in the air with one of his patented pump fakes, drove inside, and finished over the big to give the Eagles the lead back. 

Another flurry from the hosts pushed them ahead by six, 16-10, before a Ty Kocak short flip shot from the paint.  

The final 13 minutes of the half saw both team's offenses continue to excel, as the Eagles hung close, trailing by four at the break, 38-34.  

Wilkes expanded their lead to 14 in the first few minutes of the second half, and the Eagles methodically whittled down the lead.  

With eight minutes to go in the game, Husted made a pair of foul shots, Gabe Guidinger nailed a three off a pass from Mason Hardy, and Eisenhart splashed his fourth three from the left wing to make it 62-57. Two Michael Montecalvo foul shots and a Kade Anzulavich layup had JC within one.  

The Colonels called a timeout, but the Eagles stayed locked in and forced a turnover on defense. On the other end, Husted snagged an offensive rebound and laid it in to give Juniata their first lead since early in the second half.  

The teams traded foul shots, and JC continued to lead by one, with the clock ticking below three minutes.  

Wilkes scored via layup, and on the other end, Hardy got the ball on the right wing and hit Husted, cutting towards the hoop. He pump-faked to get his defender off the ground before finishing on the left side of the rim to put JC ahead 66-65 with two and a half minutes to play. 

Husted walled up on the other end, forcing a jump ball as a Wilkes forward shot directly into his hands. The arrow was in Juniata's favor, and on the other end, Eisenhart drained a three from the right corner to put the Eagles up four with just under two minutes to play. 

Wilkes made a three from the left wing, Eisenhart found Husted diving to the hoop for a layup, and the Colonels cashed another three from the top of the key to tie the game. 

In the final 34 seconds, Hardy had his shot blocked, and Wilkes drew a foul. They made both foul shots to go up by two. Juniata brought the ball up and called timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Juniata looked to get into offense as Hardy flipped the ball to Eisenhart on the left wing. Under tight pressure, the ball came loose and rolled out of bounds, and the ref signaled Wilkes's ball. 

Juniata fouled, and the Colonels split the free throws. Anzulavich grabbed the rebound and flipped it to Hardy, who raced up the floor. He gave it to Eisenhart at the top of the key, who dribbled around a Husted pick going left, got doubled, and tossed it back to Hardy on the right wing. With the Colonels scrambling, Hardy got the ball to Anzulavich, who tried to kick it to an open Montecalvo in the corner, but the Colonel defender got a fingertip to the ball to push it out of bounds with two seconds remaining. 

JC called another timeout but was whistled for traveling after inbounding the ball again, and that effectively ended the game. 

Juniata is now 15-11.