SPRINGFIELD, Ohio- The Juniata men's basketball team led throughout as they managed to hang on late to edge Franklin, 67-61, Wednesday afternoon on day two of the Wittenberg Holliday Classic.  

The Eagles came flying out to start as Kyle Ruggery (Duncansville, PA / Bishop Guilfoyle HS) assisted threes by Evan Eisenhart (York, Pa. / Central York H.S.) and Kohl Bernarding (Cochranton, Pa. / Cochranton H.S.) before Eisenhart setup Chase Husted (DuBois, Pa. / DuBois Area HS) for a layup to make it 8-0. The Grizzlies managed to get back within five at 10-5, but an Eisenhart triple on the other end pushed the lead back to eight. Tyler Lapetina (Collegeville, Pa. / Perkiomen Valley HS) found John Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic High School) for a layup, and Gabe Guidinger (York, Pa. / Central York HS) dished it to Michael Montecalvo (Altoona, Pa. / Bishop Guilfoyle HS) for a layup. Montecalvo was fouled shooting a three and converted all three shots from the charity stripe to make it 20-5 with 11 minutes to go in the half. 

The Grizzlies managed to slowly work their way back in the game, getting within single digits in the final minute before a Husted dunk off a Bernarding assist sent Juniata into the locker room ahead by 11 at the break.

It took Franklin less than two minutes to parse the JC lead down to two at 37-35 and force an Eagle timeout. 

Juniata righted the ship and gave themselves a little breathing room with a 6-0 flurry behind four points from Rigby and a Husted layup.  

The Eagles built the lead back up to as many as 14 with 12 minutes to go in the game, but the Grizzlies kept on coming. Franklin eventually whittled the lead down to one, 59-58, with just under two minutes to play. Husted scored inside after an offensive rebound before the Grizzlies came down the other way and made a three to knot things at 61. 

Ruggery drew a foul with 34 seconds showing on the clock and made both of his foul shots. Following a Franklin timeout, they managed to get three different looks but missed all of them, with one being blocked by Husted. Rigby corralled the third miss, was fouled and made his foul shots to push the lead to four. Bernarding stole the ball, and Rigby made two more foul shots to lock the win for Juniata. 

Juniata heads into Christmas at 6-3 and will return to the court at home on Dec. 29 against Bryn Athyn in the Doc Greene Tournament. The tipoff is at 7:00.