Men’s basketball comes up short against Gettysburg in Albright tourney

READING, Pa. – Juniata College men's basketball was outshot and outscored by Gettysburg College, as the Eagles fell to the Bullets, 70-53, in the opening game of the Albright College Sheraton Holiday Tournament on Friday at the Bollman Center in Reading, Pa.

Juniata (2-8) was held to just 30.0% (9-30) shooting from the field in the opening half, 33.3% (22-66) for the entire game, by a Gettysburg squad that was ranked ninth in the nation by D3hoops.com earlier this season. The Bullets shot 50.0% (27-54) from the floor, including five straight field goals during a 16-0 run that allowed Gettysburg to take a commanding lead in the first seven minutes of play.

After the Bullets took a 38-17 lead, their widest of the first half, with 1:01 remaining in the opening frame, the Eagles began to chisel their way back into the contest.

Juniata ended the half with back-to-back baskets by Justin Baker (Nanty Glo, Pa./Bishop Carroll) and Ryan Jones (Coudersport, Pa./Coudersport), and Jones opened the second half with a three-pointer to cut the margin to 38-24. 

Baker and Gettysburg's Joe Spierenberg traded layups to hold the Gettysburg advantage at 14 points. After the Bullets expanded their lead to 19 points at 45-26, Juniata's Johnny Martinez (Mount Union, Pa./Mount Union) and David Thompson's (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) responded with a layup and a trey to again cut the deficit to 14 points, 45-31, with 16:33 showing on the clock. 

That would be as close as the Eagles would get in their early second half counterattack. Gettysburg (5-2) ended the Juniata threat with a 9-0 run, widening its lead to 54-31 with 12:29 remaining. 

Thompson finished with a team-high 12 points, followed by Baker and Eric Mueseler (Latrobe, Pa./Latrobe) with eight points each. 

Dan Capkin led the Bullets with 20 points, while Andrew Powers posted the double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Juniata moves into Saturday afternoon's Sheraton Holiday Tournament consolation game against Brooklyn College, who dropped an 82-80 decision to the host squad from Albright College. Tip-off for the consolation game will be at 2:00 p.m.

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