HUNTINGDON, Pa.- Five Eagles reached double figures as the men's basketball teams halted its four game winless streak with an 86-69 win over Merchant Marine on Saturday afternoon. The victory improves Juniata's record to 15-8 overall and 8-6 in the Landmark. For JC, it is the first sweep over the Mariners since the Eagles joined the conference in 2007.
Prior to the game, the team recognized its three seniors and manager along with two Eagle cheerleaders. The senior class of Justin Fleming (Richmond, Va./Benedictine College Prep), Kyle Koehler (Chester Springs, Pa/Devon Prep), and Nate Ogle (Falls Church, Va./George Mason) is the second-winningest group in program history. So far they have qualified for the Landmark Conference tournament once and reached the championship game. They made appearances in the Eastern College Athletic Conference South region tournament in 2013 and 2014 and claimed the ECAC South title on both occasions. The trio were also a part of the 21-win team in 2014 that set the program record for most wins in a season.
"The way this season has gone is a real credit to who those guys are," said head coach Greg Curley. "I always said those three guys probably are among the most resilient guys we have ever had. Their leadership has really put us in this position. To turn in the two years that they had is among the most remarkable things of any group we've had. "
Having not played in a week, the Eagles showed a little rust early in the first half as the Mariners were ahead 8-2 with less than two minutes played. A 9-2 run by the Eagles put JC up 11-10 with 14:28 showing on the game clock.
Merchant Marine restored its lead to six points, 17-11, at 12:45. Juniata would again respond with a 12-4 run to lead 23-21 with 10:07 remaining. Trailing 28-25 with 7:24 left to play in the half, a 16-6 Eagle run to close out the half, with Marcus Lee (Carrolltown, Pa./Bishop Carroll) contributing six of those points, staked the Blue and Gold to a 41-35 lead at the break.
Juniata got out quickly in the second half and blitzed the Mariners with a 13-2 run to increase its lead to 54-37 with just over four minutes of game time having gone by. The Eagle lead remained in double digits for the rest of the game. USMMA got as close as 10 points, 66-56, with 6:31 remaining in the contest but the JC lead would grow to as much as 20 points with a minute left as Juniata had no trouble with the Mariners down the stretch.
On the momentum switching in Juniata's favor in the last five minutes of the first half, Curley stated that he thought his team settled in and played their style of defense. As for carrying that effort into the second half, he said his team continued to defend, stayed solid and guarded the ball. Curley also gave credit to the bench for stepping up.
All but one Juniata starter reached double figures. Lee led all scorers with 26 points for his eighth 20+ point game this season Seth Brewer (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) added 13 points. Ogle scored 12 points, brought down five rebounds, and dished out three assists. Koehler and Damon Rickens (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) both chipped in 10 points with Koehler grabbing a team-high eight rebounds and also blocking three shots.
The Eagles shot 53.2% (25-of-47) from the floor in the game. The Mariners were held to 37.3% shooting (22-of-59). Juniata had its second-best performance of the season from the foul line as it was 32-of-36 (88.9%).
Juniata controlled inside of the paint with a 30-24 advantage. JC received 23 points from its bench compared to 10 for USMMA.
The win keeps the Eagles in the fourth and final playoff spot in the conference. Juniata now heads on the road where it faces first place Catholic on Wednesday night. Game time will be at 7 p.m.
