Juniata men’s hoops remains undefeated in Landmark with 67-54 win over Goucher

TOWSON, Md. – Juniata College men's basketball held the home squad from Goucher College to just 27 percent shooting from the field and romped to a 67-54 win over the Gophers, Friday night at the Decker Sports & Recreation Center.

Juniata (12-3, 4-0 Landmark) held Goucher to 16-of-59 (.271) shooting from the field in the winning effort, remaining unbeaten in Landmark Conference play while matching its win total from all of 2011-12. The Eagles held their opponent to a sub-.300 shooting performance for the second consecutive outing, after allowing Drew University to shoot .279 (12-43) from the floor last Sunday in Huntingdon.

The Eagles' 4-0 league mark also represents its best start in conference play since the Jim Zauzig-led 1991-92 Juniata squad went 3-1 and eventually 4-1 to begin play in the MAC.

Senior Dan Sekulski (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) and junior guard Alex Raymond (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Altoona Area) each scored 10 points, with Sekulski also recording four steals. Brian Scholly (State College, Pa./State College Area) hauled down 13 rebounds, matching Juniata's single game season high recorded by Nate Higgins (St. Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic) against Washington & Jefferson.

Sophomore Jeremy Hays (McMechen, W.Va./John Marshall) finished with seven points and two steals, but was credited with eight assists – also matching a Juniata single game high this season.

Juniata needed a late surge to pull away fro a pesky Goucher (3-11, 0-4 Landmark) squad that trailed the Eagles by three, 53-50, with 7:17 remaining. A pair of Raymond foul shots at the 6:58 mark widened the Eagle lead to five points, with the Gophers getting one point back with a free throw on the front end of a one-and-one.

Goucher would remain stuck on 51 points while Juniata embarked on a seven-point run, ending with Lucas Mellott's (Warfordsburg, Pa./Southern Fulton) jumper with 2:21 showing on the clock.

Mellott's bucket left the Eagles with a 62-51 advantage, which Juniata defended with a 3-of-4 mark at the free-throw line down the stretch, plus a bucket by Hays with four seconds remaining. Goucher did little to help its own cause, going just 1-of-4 at the free-throw line and 0-of-2 from the field over the final two minutes.

Juniata shot .391 (25-of-64) from the floor against Goucher, including a 6-of-16 mark from 3-point range. The Eagles were just 11-of-19 from the free-throw line, a .579 free-throw percentage, but the Gophers fared worse with a .543 shooting percentage and a 19-of-35 mark at the stripe.

Goucher received game-high 12-point performances from both Shane Yambor and Marcus Cotton, while Trae Lindsay grabbed 11 rebounds. Dylan Chaney dished out five assists.

Juniata completes the two-game Landmark weekend on Saturday, Jan. 14, when it travels to Washington, D.C., to face Catholic University of America. Tip-off for the men's game will be 2:00 p.m., with the Juniata women's team battling Catholic at 4:00 p.m.

-30-