Juniata men's basketball closes regular season, falls to Susquehanna

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College men's basketball honored their graduating senior Bruce Knowles (Duncannon, Pa./Susquenita) and brought their regular season to a close in a 75-67 loss to Susquehanna University, Saturday night at Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.

Nate Higgins (St. Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic) got things started for Juniata (12-13, 5-9 Landmark) with back-to-back threes in the first minute and a half. Higgins' six-point start would mark the largest lead for the Eagles of the game.

The Crusaders and the Eagles were tied up 10-10 at the 15-minute mark, and later 17-17 with 10:54 left in the half. From that point on, Susquehanna (10-15, 7-7 Landmark) went on a 14-point run, holding the Eagles at 19 points, to get up 36-19 with three minutes left in the half. When the halftime buzzer rang, the Crusaders held a 38-24 lead.

In the second half, the Eagles rallied to bring the score within eight in the first five minutes. The scoring rally consisted of a layup from Austin Ankney (Somerset, Pa./Somerset), a jumper from Knowles and a trey from Alex Raymond (Holidaysburg, Pa./Altoona).

The Crusaders ran with their lead but in the final moments, Juniata brought the game even closer. A layup and a good foul shot by Raymond, as well as a 3-pointer from Brian Scholly (State College, Pa./State College Area) brought the Eagles to just a six point deficit, 71-65, with 28 seconds on the clock. The Eagles only trailed by three with a layup from Higgins with 18 seconds left.

However, the final efforts from the Eagles were not enough to tie up the game. Two foul shots from the Crusaders' Spenser Spencer and another two from Harvey Pannell would wrap up the Susquehanna victory.

Susquehanna outrebounded the Eagles 40-26. The Crusaders outshot the Eagles 53.6 percent to 33.3 percent in the first half and 51-42 percent for the game. Raymond grabbed the team-high for the Eagles with 15 points, while Knowles went out with 10 for the night.


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