Eagles Dominate Presidents

Brandon Martinazzi surveys the floor.
Brandon Martinazzi surveys the floor.

WASHINGTON, Pa.- The Juniata college men's basketball team dominated the Presidents, 80-54, Tuesday evening at the Henry Memorial Center. 

Marcus Lee (Carrolltown, Pa./Bishop Carroll) tallied 21 points and eight rebounds, Brandon Martinazzi (Cresson, Pa./Bishop Carroll) had 18 points, six rebounds and four steals while Seth Brewer (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) chipped in with 12 points. Damon Rickens (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists. Wil Peralta (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) had four points and six rebounds. 

The teams were evenly matched early, as two W&J foul shots pulled them within two at 9-7 in the first five minutes of the half. Over the next 10 minutes, the Juniata offense started to get rolling while the defense held the Generals in check as the Eagles went on a 25-7 run. Brewer nailed a midrange jumper, Martinazzi scored inside, and Jake Holsopple (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) scored off a Paul Martello (York, Pa./York Catholic) assist to get the run started. Martinazzi drilled back to back three pointers, and Lee scored inside as the Eagles took a 34-14 lead. Juniata went into the half up 40-23.

The second half opened with Rickens finding Peralta cutting in the lane for an easy two. On the next Juniata offensive possession, Lee banked in a runner in traffic to make it 44-25. The Eagles lead would never dip below 16 the rest of way as JC cruised to victory.

For the second time in this young season, JC shot over 50% from the floor, going 18-51 (54.9%). The Eagles were effective from downtown as well, shooting 5-11 (45.5%) from three. JC held a 37-21 edge in rebounds and a 38-22 edge in points in the paint.

Juniata will play their first home game against Alvernia, Sunday at 2:00 p.m.