WASHINGTON, D.C. – Juniata College men's basketball couldn't quite overcome a 27 percent shooting effort in the first half and an 11-point halftime time deficit as the Eagles dropped a 74-61 decision to Landmark Conference rival Catholic University of America, Saturday afternoon at the DuFour Center.

The loss was Juniata's first Landmark loss of the season, dropping the Eagles conference ledger to 4-1 with a 12-4 overall mark. 

Junior guard Alex Raymond (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Altoona Area) paced Juniata offensively with 14 points while dishing out seven assists, while sophomore Brian Scholly (State College, Pa./State College Area) netted 13 points. Both Nate Higgins (St. Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic) and Dan Sekulski (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) had 10 points.

The Eagles struggled to find their shooting touch in the first half, connecting on just eight of their 27 field goal attempts for a .296 field goal percentage. Defensively, Juniata was unable to shut down a Catholic squad that boasted the Landmark's top scoring offense, as the Cardinals shot .500 (12-of-24) from the floor.

Catholic (13-3, 3-2 Landmark) scored the game's first eight points and raced out to a 12-2 lead in the game's first four-and-a-half minutes. Juniata committed three turnovers during that stretch, and missed three of their first four shots.

By the 13:00 mark of the first half, Juniata had whittled the Catholic lead down to two points, with the Eagles taking advantage of a Cardinal turnover to log back-to-back 3-pointers by Raymond. Catholic began pulling away from Juniata as the first half wound down, and Chris Keaney's jumper with seconds on the clock sent the Cardinals into the intermission with a double-digit lead.

Juniata managed to get within 12 points of Catholic, 64-52, on Raymond's jumper with 3:56 showing on the second half clock, but that would be as close as the Eagles would get to catching the Cardinals.

Catholic had four players in double digits, paced by Shawn Holmes with 19 points. Kearney tallied 13 points, while Steve Limberiou netted 11. Jared Prince added 10 points off the bench.

Juniata returns home next weekend, starting with a clash with Moravian College on Friday, Jan. 20, at 5:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.

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