BETHLEHEM, PA- Juniata took a double-digit lead into the second half but could not sustain it on the road against Moravian on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles fell to the Greyhounds 70-61 in Landmark conference play and drop to 8-10 overall and 2-7 in the conference. Moravian improves to 4-13 and 2-6 in the Landmark.
It was the Greyhounds who led early in the first half 5-0. The Eagles' 22-8 run that covered over nine minutes of game time put Juniata up 22-13 with 9:25 left on the clock.
Trevor Clune's (Meadville, PA/Meadville Area) jump shot with 5:21 to play in the half increased the JC advantage to 10 points, 31-21. That started an 11-6 run that ended with Clune's three-point shot with four ticks remaining to give the Eagles a 40-27 lead at the half.
A Marcus Lee (Carrolltown, PA/Bishop Carroll) layup coupled with a pair of free throws from Justin Fleming (Richmond, VA/Benedictine College Prep) expanded the Eagles' lead to 44-27 at 18:52. The advantage grew to 15 points at 17:21 following a trey from Ryan Naccarato (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin). A 23-5 Greyhound run that saw Juniata go scoreless for six and a half minutes of play, erased JC's big lead. A layup from Naccarato ended Juniata's scoring drought and made it 52-49 Eagles with 8:50 to play.
The JC advantage soon disappeared as the Greyhounds went on a 17-4 run that saw them go up by 10 points, 68-55, with 49 seconds left to play. A Damon Ricken's (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) three-point shot made it nine-point advantage for the home team but the Eagles could not get any closer as the Greyhounds took the victory.
Lee led Juniata with 16 points and 14 rebounds for his second career double-double. Clune added 11 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting. Kyle Koehler (Chester Springs, PA/Devon Prep) dished out a season-high seven assists while also chipping in four rebounds and two points.
The Eagles outrebounded the Greyhounds, 42-30. They also enjoyed a 28-26 advantage in the paint and outscored the Moravian bench, 26-15.
Juniata returns to Huntingdon to host Goucher on Wednesday night. Game time from Memorial Gymnasium will be at 7 p.m.