HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball moved to 2-0 with another strong defensive showing as they defeated Moravian, 66-53, Sunday afternoon inside Memorial Gymnasium.
Cameron Keck (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro) scored the game's first bucket as he elevated over his defender and sunk the foul line jumper. Kyle Ruggery (Duncansville, PA / Bishop Guilfoyle HS) found Evan Eisenhart (York, Pa. / Central York H.S.) for a three before the freshman guard from Duncansville, Pa. finished through contact to make it 7-0 with the foul shot to make it 8-0. The Eagles held Moravian scoreless for almost the first four minutes of the game before converting from three.
Back to back threes from Filippo Baldo (Easton, Pa. / Notre Dame Green Pond H.S.) and Michael Montecalvo (Altoona, Pa. / Bishop Guilfoyle HS), who assisted each other on their threes, made it 17-8 with 12 minutes to go in the first stanza. Neither team scored for nearly three minutes before John Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic High School) drew a foul and made a pair of foul shots. Nate DaCanal (Johnsonburg, Pa. / Elk County Catholic) made a pullup jumper from the right-wing off a pass from Keck, which pushed the lead to 13.
Moravian trimmed the JC advantage to seven before a Ruggery three and a Keck and-one on a strong right-hand drive that ended with a layup he finished off the glass. The free throw returned the lead to 13. Juniata led by 12 at the half, 30-18.
At the half, Juniata leads Moravian 30-18! #wingsup #d3hoops pic.twitter.com/GnjnmxXVqn
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) February 7, 2021
The Eagles continued to control play, and over the course of the first 10 minutes of the second half, they pushed the lead to 20 with two more Kelly foul shots. The Greyhounds hit some threes to cut into the lead, but Juniata held them at arm's length to get the win and complete the first sweep of the season series.
Juniata led wire to wire, held a plus 19 rebound advantage, and got another big afternoon from their bench as they got 29 points from the reserves.
Juniata will travel to D.C. to take on Catholic, Tuesday at 7:00.