ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team was unable to make up a six-point gap with two minutes to play, falling 56-50 on the road to Elizabethtown after holding a four-point lead at halftime.
Mason Hardy was key on both sides of the ball, providing a team-high in both points (11) and steals (4). He and Tyler Lapetina tallied a team-leading six rebounds, while Kyle Ruggery and Evan Eisenhart each contributed ten points from the bench.
Juniata began the contest shooting efficiently and breaking ahead by 15 points within the first ten minutes. Neco Campbell's right corner three and another from Lapetina on the left wing put Juniata up 6-0 two minutes in. The Blue Jays used several driving layups to get back level at eight apiece.
After Lapetina converted a pair of free throws, the Blue Jays found their first lead of the night, 11-10, on a left-wing three. From there, the Eagles posted 16 unanswered. An Eisenhart left-wing three-pointer started the run, while Juniata ended on a Ruggery three initiated on a Sho Watson steal and Eisenhart's second from center-court.
Etown broke the run with a layup, followed by yet another Ruggery shot from outside the arc. From there, though, the Blue Jays began to cut into the 16-point deficit, outscoring Juniata 20-8 in the final eight minutes to narrow the Eagle advantage to 37-33 with 20 minutes to settle it.
Scoring was low to begin the second half, with the Eagles doing just enough to maintain the lead early on.
Seven minutes in, with Juniata ahead 44-41, the Blue Jays equalized from a free-throw and a right-wing to left-side pass for a layup on the next possession. Guidinger soon found Eisenhart driving into the paint on the right side for a layup, followed by Etown recovering an airball three for a pass-back layup to tie the game again.
After returning from an Eagles timeout, the Blue Jays broke ahead with an 8-1 run, getting them ahead 55-47 with 2:30 on the clock. Juniata found some life, though, with Ruggery converting 1 of 2 free throws and Guidinger stealing the ball right from a Blue Jays player on the perimeter for an unchallenged layup to make it 55-50 with less than two minutes.
After Etown converted one from the line, Hardy earned a steal on a successful high press of a Blue Jays defensive rebound, snagging the ball at half-court and drawing a foul on his drive to the hoop. He converted both shots to get back within four points.
The Eagles called timeout before giving the Blue Jays possession, and they were yet again able to force a turnover off a high press. Hardy again drew the steal and found Ruggery driving for a layup, sinking the shot and drawing the foul. He hit his and-one to cut the lead to one for Etown with 25 seconds left.
The Blue Jays were able to draw a foul on the next possession, and they hit both from the line. They then earned the defense rebound on Juniata's next possession and forced the Eagles into a foul. Again, they went 2 of 2 with 11 seconds to go, and Juniata was unable to find a way back with the clock dwindling for a 60-55 final score.
Juniata's second-half shooting struggles kept them to just 18 second-half points as they shot just .200 from the field to Etown's .375, while the Eagles missed all 12 three attempts.
Juniata returns at the end of the month as they host Penn College, Geneva College, and Mary Baldwin University in the Doc Greene Tournament. They'll play Penn in the first round on Friday, December 29th, at 7:00 pm.
