Huntingdon, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team got back to their winning ways with a 64-53 win against Goucher, Wednesday evening at Memorial Gymnasium in Landmark Conference action.
Marcus Lee (Carrolltown, Pa./Bishop Carroll) had 18 points to lead all scorers while Seth Brewer (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. Paul Martello (York, Pa./York Catholic) had eight points and two steals, Brandon Martinazzi (Cresson, Pa. / Bishop Carroll) had seven points and a season-high seven rebounds.
Lee drove inside and laid it in off the glass on the left side to get things started. The Gophers scored on two tough midrange jumpers, Damon Rickens (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) nailed a three off a pass from Wil Peralta (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) and Nathan Markey (York, Pa./Central York) scored on a drive from the left corner after he got his defender to bite on a pump fake as JC took a 7-4 lead.
A few possessions later, a layup by Noah Neville (Westminster, Md./North Carroll) followed by a Goucher layup off of an offensive rebound made it 9-8 Juniata. On the next trip down the floor for the Eagles, Jake Holsopple (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic and kicked it out as JC reset. The Eagles got the defense to start scrambling, and Martello fired a pass inside to Holsopple who laid it in to make it 11-8. Neither team scored for the next two minutes before Goucher struck again to make it 11-10.
Went on a 12-0 run, with Lee nailing two foul shots and Brewer stealing the ball and finishing in transition. Lee skipped the ball from the right elbow to the left corner to Martinazzi for three to make it 18-10. JC capped the run with another Brewer steal, took off the other way and dropped it off to Markey who finished while being fouled. He sunk the foul shot to make it 21-10.
JC ended up going into halftime ahead, 25-16. The Eagles forced the Gophers into 16 first half turnovers.
The Eagles continued their strong play to open the half, and a steal by Peralta turned into a Brewer layup plus the foul on the other end. He made his foul shot to make it 38-24 with 16 minutes remaining in the contest. The Gophers began to chip away at the Eagle lead over the next eight minutes, and a corner three brought them within six at 48-42.
After a stop, Martinazzi drove from the right wing into the paint to suck in the defense before he kicked it out to Martello who flipped it to Brewer in the corner. Brewer sank the three to push the lead back to nine. Martinazzi scored inside, Peralta sank a foul shot, Lee scored off a nice pass from Peralta, and Martello nailed a three off a pass from Lee to make 59-44. The Eagle lead did not drop to single digits the rest of the way.
JC improves to 13-1 on the year and travels to face conference leader Drew, Saturday at 2:00.