ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team lost at Elizabethtown, 70-43, Wednesday evening at Thompson Gymnasium.
The Blue Jays scored the opening five points of the game over the first three minutes before Paul Martello (York, Pa. / York Catholic) found Nicholas Albert (Herndon, Va. / Westfield High) for a triple to open the Eagle scoring. The hosts rattled off nine straight points before Marcus Hall (York, Pa. / Trinity) scored inside. Jake Holsopple (Duncansville, Pa. / Hollidaysburg) followed with a jumper of his own but the Blue Jay offense continued to function as they pushed their lead to 13, 20-7 in the first eight minutes.
Two Martello foul shots and a Caidon Owen (Glenelg, Md. / Glenelg Country School) layup off a pass from Ethan Haupt (Duncansville, Pa. / Hollidaysburg)helped the Eagles stay within striking distance. Albert found Brandon Martinazzi (Cresson, Pa. / Bishop Carroll) for layup and he scored through contact. After the foul shot the Eagles trailed by 14, 28-14. A John Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic High School) jumper off a pass from Haupt was the final bucket of the first half for the Eagles as they went cold in the final five minutes of the half.
Elizabethtown led, 42-18 heading into the locker room. The Blue Jays were on fire in the first half as they shot 60.0% from the floor in the first half.
Martinazzi opened the second half with another and one to make it 42-21. Juniata forced a turnover and on the other end Haupt found Owen for a layup. The Eagle defense continued to force stops, and after the teams exchanged misses Zach Engle (Millheim, Pa. / Penns Valley) kicked the ball to Haupt for a three to make it 42-26 with seventeen and half minutes to go into the game.
This was as close as the Eagles would get as Juniata hit another cold spell. A Holsopple three off a pass from Cameron Keck (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro) made it 56-29 with a little under 11 minutes to go. The Blue Jays cruised the rest of the way to get the win.
Juniata returns to action Saturday at Drew. Tipoff is at 4:00.