HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team never trailed as they used a stifling first half of defense to ease by visiting Goucher, 87-63, Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Gymnasium.
A Ross Conway steal on one end resulted in a Tyler Lapetina pull-up jumper on the other as JC opened the scoring. A handoff between Mason Hardy and Chase Husted on the right wing saw Hardy take the handoff and hit Husted rolling to the hoop for an easy two. The Gophers scored the next four points before Hardy blew past his man for an uncontested finger roll layup; Lapetina got the ball in transition, drove, and finished off the glass. He added a baseline jumper to make it 10-4. Hardy scooped up the rebound after a miss and hit a cutting Nick Rigby for a layup; Goucher called timeout.
The Gophers scored seven of the next nine points as they got within three, 14-11. Kyle Ruggery scored inside, and Husted followed with a layup of his own to push the lead back to seven. Following a Goucher foul shot, Husted found a cutting Hardy for another layup, and Lapetina scored on a runner while being fouled; he converted the free throw. Gabe Guidinger and Conway scored on back-to-back layups, with Kohl Bernarding stealing the ball and providing the assist to Conway to cap the 13-1 run. Juniata led 27-12 with six minutes to go in the half.
Gabe Guidinger for the Eagles!! #WingsUp #TakingFlight #GoEagles pic.twitter.com/TB6OZ9Ahgk
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) January 7, 2023
In the final two minutes, Ruggery stole a pass on the baseline and hit Guidinger up the floor, who found Husted for an easy two to make it 41-19. The Gophers added a foul shot to get to two, and Husted made a jumper from above the foul line off a Conway pass to close the scoring as Juniata led 43-20 at the break.
The Eagles head into halfttime up 43-20!! #GoEagles #TakingFlight #WingsUp pic.twitter.com/LECumchd6p
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) January 7, 2023
The Gophers never got closer than 20 in the second half as Juniata kept their foot on the gas in the second half.
Evan Eisenhart from Mason Hardy!! #GoEagles #TakingFlight #WingsUp pic.twitter.com/cXS1N2wrpT
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) January 7, 2023
The Eagles held a 36-24 advantage on the boards, a 58-26 edge in points in the paint, and a 30-20 edge in points off the bench. Husted led all scorers with 20 points; he added five rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal. Lapetina tallied 15 points, four rebounds, and an assist, while Guidinger totaled 14 points, three rebounds, a steal, and three blocks. Rigby added 12 points and two rebounds off the bench.
Juniata will take on Moravian Friday at 4:00.
