Early lead and Stapleton's 24 points pace Juniata men’s hoops to 85-48 win over Drew

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Juniata College men's basketball jumped out to an early lead on visiting Landmark Conference rival Drew University, and the Eagles rode that advantage to a lop-sided 85-48 win over the Rangers on Sunday afternoon at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.

Juniata improved to 11-3 overall and 3-0 in the Landmark Conference, hanging onto a share of the top spot in the conference standings.

The Eagles had a 5-0 lead over the Rangers before Drew was able to muster a response just under three minutes into the game, and Juniata's lead reached double digits on an Alex Raymond (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Altoona Area) 3-pointer with 13:57 remaining to make the score 15-5 in the Eagles' favor.

Drew scaled the Juniata lead back to five points on a pair of Asmar Capers foul shots and a Terrell Brown trey. The Eagles eventually answered with a 6-0 run that ended with a Jeremy Hays (McMechen, W.Va./John Marshall) layup, giving Juniata a 23-12 advantage. The Eagles would never again find themselves within single digits of the Rangers, and Juniata went into locker room at halftime with a 45-22 lead.

The Rangers managed to take a small chunk out of the Juniata lead with a pair of buckets to open the second half, including a 3-pointer by Michael Chiarella. Kevin Stapleton (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) responded with back-to-back-to-back baskets, stretching the Juniata lead to 22 points at 49-27, with 16:29 showing on the clock.

Juniata's margin reached broke the 30-point barrier on a pair of Austin Ankney (Somerset, Pa./Somerset) foul shots at the 11:19 mark.

Stapleton led the Eagles with a season-high 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the field, the most field goals by a Juniata player in a single game since Dan Sekulski's (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone Area) hit 11 field goals on February 11, 2011 against Moravian College.

Raymond netted 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting with three 3-pointers, and dished out four assists.  Sekulski tallied four points and also had four assists.

Nate Higgins (St. Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic) finished with nine points and three steals, while Hays had six points, six assists, and three steals.

Capers paced Drew offensively with 15 points – the bulk of that coming on a 13-of-15 mark at the free throw line, after going 1-of-11 from the floor in only his second game after missing the last month of play due to injury.  Brown had seven points for the Rangers, with Chiarella and Evan Elberg each chipping in with six points off the bench.

Juniata returns to action next Friday, Jan. 13, when the Eagles travel to Towson, Md., to face Goucher College.  Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

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