SELINSGROVE, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team battled valiantly but ultimately came up just short on the road against #1 seed Susquehanna, Wednesday evening inside a rowdy Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium in a Landmark Semifinal showdown.
Juniata opened the game with two threes', first from Evan Eisenhart (York, Pa. / Central York) off a Kohl Bernarding (Cochranton, Pa. / Cochranton) assist and another from Nick Rigby (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon Area) off a pass from Kyle Ruggery (Duncansville, Pa. / Bishop Guilfoyle), as they led 6-0 in the opening two minutes. The River Hawks went on a 9-0 run to take the lead before Eisenhart cashed another three of another Bernarding dime to make it 9-9.
A John Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic) put back made it 11-11, Susquehanna scored on a layup and a jumper prior to Mason Hardy (Gaithersburg, Md. / Our Lady of Good Counsel) finding Kelly for a layup as the Eagles trailed 17-13 with 10 to go in the half. Michael Montecalvo (Altoona, Pa. / Bishop Guilfoyle) found Hardy for a three to bring JC within one.
The teams traded makes, with Eisenhart providing his third triple of the night, and Chase Husted (DuBois, Pa. / DuBois Area) followed with a pair of free throws to give JC the lead back at 22-21. SU retook the lead on four straight foul shots, but the Eagles hung close over the next few minutes. Husted scored on a layup, Gabe Guidinger (York, Pa. / Central York) and Hardy each scored on a jumper as JC got the deficit back down to one, 28-27, with two minutes to go in the half.
SU closed the half on an 8-0 surge to send JC into the half down nine, 36-27.
The River Hawks pushed their lead to as many 11 for a moment, but the Eagles quickly got to work narrow the deficit. A jumper by Husted followed by a layup off a nice feed from Guidinger made it 40-35 with 13 minutes to play.
Susquehanna managed to nudge the lead back to nine, but the Eagles got buckets off jumpers from Rigby and Eisenhart along with two Kelly foul shots to get back within four. A three on the other end by the River Hawks was eventually countered with a long two by Bernarding from the left-wing. SU buried another three, and JC would call timeout with a little over three minutes to go in the game down eight, 54-46.
Hardy converted a foul shot and the teams traded misses and turnovers before Guidinger drove into the teeth of the defense and found Ruggery in the right corner, who drilled a three to bring the Eagles within four. Juniata could not narrow the gap any further, as two Eisenhart foul shots would bring them back within four at 56-52, but SU made a few foul shots down the stretch to end it.
Juniata currently sits at 15-11 and will see if they will get an additional postseason opportunity next week.
