By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: Christopher Shannon
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – It came down to the wire, but the Juniata College men's basketball team pulled out a thrilling 67-62 victory over the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in the 2013-14 season home opener. The Eagles were able to fight back from a nine point half-time deficit for their third consecutive win of the young season.
"We've got to be more consistent," said head coach Greg Curley. "We have to come out and execute. We have to be smarter than we were and be more aggressive."
Bradford opened the game with four buckets in a row, plus two made free throws, to jump out to an 11-0. Sophomore Justin Fleming (Doswell, Va./Benedictine College Prep.) converted on two foul shots to put Juniata on the board 11-2 just under five minutes into the half. The Eagles finished the night with a solid 78.3 free throw percentage.
"We shouldn't have been down 11, I don't think we carried over what we did at Dickinson," said Curley. "We didn't come out with energy. We didn't come out with focus. We didn't guard anybody in the first half. I think we showed we have enough good players that can do good things because we can play poorly and still win."
Juniata gave up the first points of the second half, but then senior Lucas Mellott (Warfordsburg, Pa./Southern Fulton) came back at the Panthers with back-to-back scores to get the Eagles on a roll. Mellott finished the night with a career-high 16 points and seven rebounds.
"Luke came out the second half aggressive," said Curley. "I thought he missed way too many opportunities the first half by being tentative. In the second half he went after it, took it at them, and made some really big plays. He kept us in the game and then got us into the game."
The momentum started to swing towards the Eagles even more when senior Jeremy Hays (McMechen, W. Va./John Marshal) made a steal and converted on the fast break followed by senior Kevin Stapleton (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) grabbing another Juniata steal and assisting Mellott on a Juniata bucket. Stapleton finished the night with a game-high 19 points and tied a career-high in steals with three.
"We have a lot of guys in different roles," said Curley. "Last year we had a couple of guys you could rely on. Now the responsibility falls [on some different guys] and we have to be better and more consistent. Stapleton and [Brian] Scholly really struggled tonight. They kept trying to play through it, but they're going to have to learn how to struggle and still lead us and still control the things they can control and not let it impact the energy and approach of the team."
With 1:31 left on the clock, Hays put in a layup to pull the Eagles within one a 59-58. After a Juniata timeout, Stapleton snagged a steal and fed the ball to Hays for the score and Juniata's first lead of the night at 60-59. Stapleton then sunk his second three of the game to put the Eagles up 63-59 with 12 seconds remaining. A made three in the waning seconds wasn't enough for Bradford and Juniata walked away with the 67-62 win.
"We're a place that prides itself on how it defends and you couldn't have walked into this gym and seen that tonight," said Curley. "That's got to change. We need to find a way to get better at it. Guys need to understand how to do things consistently and stay focused."
Juniata will face Washington & Jefferson College on the road next Tuesday before returning home after the Thanksgiving holiday to host St. Vincent College Saturday Nov. 30 at 2 p.m. on the Memorial Gymnasium Court.
"We've got a lot of work to do and we have to keep getting better," said Curley. "This will be a good night if we learn from it and show improvement on Tuesday."
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