HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team returned the court after a two week hiatus as it faced Drew at Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The Rangers led for all but 36 seconds of the game as they held off the Eagles 78-71. The loss now gives Juniata an overall record of 9-2 and 2-1 in the Landmark. Drew improves to 6-5 and 3-0 in the conference.
Three players scored in double figures led by Brandon Martinazzi's (Cresson, Pa./Bishop Carroll) 16 points. Marcus Lee (Carrolltown, Pa./Bishop Carroll) added 15 points while Justin Fleming (Richmond, Va./Benedictine College Prep) chipped in 13 points. Seth Brewer (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) totaled nine points, six rebounds, and four assists on the afternoon.
The Rangers went ahead 6-0 on back-to-back three-point shots to start the game off. Juniata was able to respond as it got to within one point, 6-5, at 15:29, but Drew answered with a run to go up 22-14 at 10:34.
The Eagles went on a 10-2 run with Juniata nailing three three-point shots including two in row by Fleming to tie the contest at 24-all with 5:15 remaining in the half. A 12-3 Drew run increased their advantage to 36-27 with 3:03 showing on the game clock. It was a four-point game, 36-32, with 1:44 to play but a pair of three pointers by the Rangers staked the visitors to a 42-32 lead. The Eagles were able to get one last basket in as Lee successfully made a layup at the buzzer as JC trailed 42-34 at the break.
In the second half, the Eagles kept pace with the Rangers but couldn't get the basket they needed to take the lead. JC was able to tie the game at 56-all with 8:46 remaining but a foul by Trevor Clune (Meadville, Pa./Meadville Area) put Drew's Mike Klinger on the free throw line where he made both of his attempts to give the Rangers a 58-56 lead.
Drew's lead stood at 67-63 with 4:41 to play in the game. Martinazzi drained a three-pointer to make it a one-point deficit at 4:27. 19 seconds later, he went to the charity stripe as he was fouled by Brian McLaughlin. Martinazzi made both of his attempts with his final one giving the Eagles their first lead of the day, 68-67, with 4:08 left.
Juniata trailed by seven points, 75-68, with just over a minute remaining. Fleming made it a two-possession game with a huge three-point basket as 55 ticks showed on the game clock. A missed jumper by Klinger with 25 seconds left was brought down by Fleming. Kyle Koehler (Chester Springs, Pa./Devon Prep) had a chance to get the Eagles to within one with 13 seconds left but was off on his three point attempt. The Rangers converted three of four free throw shots in the end to come away with the win.
"Any time you get behind and you are trying to claw back in, it's hard," said head coach Greg Curley afterwards. "We played a good team tonight. Any time two good teams play, someone's going to lose and someone is going to win. We need to keep this in perspective and understand. We need to understand what we need to do to win games and we need to do it consistently."
Despite the loss, Juniata had a better overall shooting percentage than Drew as it was 28-of-60 (46.7%) from the floor compared to the Rangers' 28-of-61 (45.9%). Drew controlled inside the paint 30-22 and had an 11-3 advantage on second chance points. The rebounding advantage favored the Rangers, 41-29.
The Eagles return to action this coming Tuesday when they host Goucher. Tip off will be at 7 p.m.
