HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team had a corner jumper at the buzzer by Nate DaCanal (Johnsonburg, Pa. / Elk County Catholic) waived off as they lost to Goucher, 47-46, Wednesday evening inside a loud Memorial Gymnasium.
Juniata couldn't score in the opening five minutes but held the Gophers to just two points so when Charles Somerville III (Hagerstown, Md. / St. Maria Goretti H.S.) rebounded his own miss and laid it back in, the score was 2-2.
The visitors made two free throws, and a few possessions later, Nathan Markey (York, Pa. / Central York) drilled a three off a pass from DaCanal to make it 5-4 with just under 12 minutes to go in the half.
Goucher went on a 7-0 run over the next few minutes before Cameron Keck (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro) split a pair of free throws. Somerville made two of his own to make it 12—8 with seven and a half minutes remaining.
The Gophers tacked on another seven points in the next minute and a half as they pushed their lead back to nine, prior to Jake Holsopple (Duncansville, Pa. / Hollidaysburg) dishing to a cutting Kohl Bernarding (Cochranton, Pa. / Cochranton H.S.) for a layup. Bernarding got in a passing lane, stole the ball and took it the other way for a layup to made it 19-12 with a little under five minutes to go.
Goucher drilled an elbow jumper, John Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic High School) swished a jumper from the foul line off a pass from DaCanal and Keck scored on a layup to get within five. A Marcus Hall (York, Pa. / Trinity) layup surrounded by Goucher players made it 24-18 with 55 seconds to go. The Gophers made a free throw to wrap up the first half scoring as Juniata trailed by seven going into the locker room.
The Gophers held their lead over the first seven minutes, with a layup from Nick Rigby (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon H.S.) cutting the deficit to nine, 34-25. Somerville drilled a three off a pass from Griffin LaCarte (Belle Vernon, Pa. / Belle Vernon) as the shot clocked expired to bring JC within six.
Hall converted two free throws and a right-hand layup after a strong drive on the following possession to make it 38-35 with under six minutes to go. A Hall jumper from the right elbow off a pass from DaCanal brought them within one. Rigby caught the ball on the left-wing, drove inside and lobbed it over the rim to put Juniata ahead, 39-38. Goucher made two free throws, and Bernarding made one to tie things at 40.
Two Rigby free throws pushed the lead to two, and his layup made it 44-40 with two minutes to go. Goucher drilled a three from the left-wing and called timeout. Juniata missed on their next offensive trip.
With 29 seconds to go, Goucher scored on a layup to take the lead by one, 45-44. Holsopple was fouled and made both foul shots to give JC the lead back with 19 seconds to go. The Gophers countered with a running layup from the right side to retake the lead, 47-46, with 5.9 seconds to go, to set up DaCanal's shot from the left corner that was waived off.
Goucher shot 41.0% from the floor to Juniata's 29.6% and had one more rebound than JC, 33-32.
Juniata will take on Scranton, Saturday at 2:00.
