By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: T.J. Chance-Chin
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – A strong overall team effort propelled the Juniata College men's basketball team to a 70-51 win over Goucher College, improving the teams' overall record to 14-8 and 5-6 in Landmark Conference play. Senior Lucas Mellott (Warfordsburg, Pa./Southern Fulton) registered his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds and senior Brian Scholly (State College, Pa./State College) added a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds. On top of the standout performances from the two seniors, all eight Juniata plays that saw time on the court scored for the Eagles.
"We made progress and we got better, but we're going to have to be better still," said head coach Greg Curley. "I thought our decision making at the end of the first half wasn't very good and we didn't finish the game the way we talked about. We have to stay focused and get it done. We're making steps and you can see us getting better. Until we can put a complete game together, consistently make good decisions, consistently execute what we want to do, we're not going to be the kind of team that we need to be or want to be."
Mellott opened scoring with a slick right hook followed by a rebound under the opposite hoop. Scholly hit back-to-back treys for the Eagles and followed it up with a monster block on defense. The Juniata defense continue to force Goucher to take tough shots and on one play under the Juniata basket, Scholly grabbed three rebounds before draining a trey to put the Eagles up 11-4 with 13 minutes on the clock. The forwards hot hand had Scholly with 12 points before the midway point in the first half. Juniata went 5-11 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.
The Eagles earned a ten-point lead with just over 11-minutes to play when first year player Nate Ogle (Falls Church, Va./George Mason) muscled three people out of the way for the rebound and fed the pass to senior Pat Cassidy (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) who made a great windmill move under the basket for the layup. Scholly continued his strong defensive game and with two minutes left in the half, Mellott sunk two shots from the free-throw line for the 31-21 lead. The Eagles carried a 36-26 lead into the halftime break.
With four minutes gone in the second half, senior Jeremy Hays (McMechen, W. Va./John Marshall) threaded a pass around the Goucher defense and into senior Kevin Stapleton (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) for the right hand layup and the 45-28 lead. Hays tied a career-high with six assists on the night and Stapleton tacked on eight points. Cassidy stretched the Juniata lead to 14 with just over 10-minutes to play at 51-37 on a solid drive through the key. Sophomore Justin Fleming (Doswell, Va./Benedictine College Prep.) made a strong fake to the inside on a fast break and fooled his defender to loft in a layup followed by a three for the 63-42 Juniata lead with six minutes to play.
"The guys came out and got a couple of stops early and set the tone defensively," said Curley. "We executed our offense pretty well and got some easier baskets. We came out a little more focused and made the push we needed to. It's not a real mystery. When we're good we defend and rebound, take care of the ball, and make good decisions. We still had too many down spots and that stuff has to go away if we want to get back to where we want to be."
The Juniata lead reached as many as 25 as the Eagles worked their way to their fifth conference win of the season. Juniata is back in action at home this Saturday, Feb. 15, for the final regular season home game of the year. Tip off for the game against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is set for 2 p.m. followed by the women's game at 4 p.m.
"You create your own momentum by your execution," added Curley.
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