WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Juniata College men's basketball was held to just 29 percent shooting from the floor while undefeated host Lycoming College fired at a 47 percent pace, as the Eagles fell to the Warriors, 71-50, Tuesday night at Lamade Gym.
Sophomore guard Jeremy Hays (McMechen, W.Va./John Marshall) led Juniata (6-2) with 12 points and three steals, and was joined in double-digits by junior guard Alex Raymond (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Altoona Area) with 11 points to go with four assists. Sophomore Kevin Stapleton (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) paced the Eagles on the boards with nine rebounds, matching two Lycoming players for the game high.
The Eagles' 17-of-58 (.293) effort from the field against the Warriors was its lowest field goal percentage in a game this season. Juniata also committed 22 turnovers, fewer than Lycoming's tally of 24, but the Warriors capitalized on the Eagle miscues to the tune of 29 points-off-turnovers.
A 3-pointer by Lycoming's Anthony Martin and a follow-up layup by Jerald Williams help break a 24-24 deadlock with 1:23 left in the first half. A Raymond free throw on the front end of a one-and-one broke the Warrior run, but Williams had another layup bucket with two seconds remaining to give Lycoming a 31-25 lead at the break.
Lycoming hit its first four field goal attempts of the second half, with two of those buckets coming off Juniata turnovers, resulting in a 39-27 Warrior lead by the 17:42 mark of the second stanza.
A Hays layup 16 seconds later cut the Lycoming lead back to 10 at 39-29, but that would be Juniata's last score for well over six minutes of play. The Eagles missed their next 11 field goal attempts while the Warriors went on an 11-0 run, until a Hays layup at the 11:09 mark finally ended the Juniata scoring drought with Lycoming holding a 50-31 advantage.
Lycoming held Juniata at bay the rest of the way, stretching its lead to a maximum of 23 points on a pair of occasions.
Lycoming (7-0) was led by Martin with 18 points and four rebounds, while Kevin Anthony had 16 points. Williams dished out a game-high eight assists, and finished with nine rebounds.
Juniata returns home this weekend for the 20th Annual Doc Greene Invitational. The Eagles will face Penn State Mont Alto on Friday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m., and will battle either Ithaca College or New Jersey City University on Saturday, Dec. 10, in either the consolation or championship.
-30-
