Eagles Close Out Season With 58-53 Win over Moravian

HUNTINGDON, PA- Key free throws in the final two minutes was all the Juniata men's basketball team needed as it closed out the 2014-15 season with a 58-53 victory over Moravian on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium. The Eagles made seven out of eight attempts down the stretch to close out the victory.

Marcus Lee (Carrolltown, PA/Bishop Carroll) had a nearly perfect game as he shot over 90% (10-of-11) from the floor for a team-high 23 points. It was his fourth 20+ game of the season. He also came down with three rebounds, two blocks, and one steal.

Kyle Koehler (Chester Springs, PA/Devon Prep) also scored in double-digits for Juniata as he hit 4-of-7 of his attempts for 15 points and grabbed six rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.

"It's great to see young guys step up and make big plays," said head coach Greg Curley afterwards." Marcus made huge basket after huge basket and kind of emerged and provided some floor leadership that we needed. I thought we played hard, we've played hard all year, and I thought we played together."

Both teams started the game off slow shooting the ball but quickly recovered. The Eagles took their first lead of the afternoon on a three-pointer from Justin Fleming (Richmond, VA/Benedictine College Prep) at 16:58. Ryan O'Neil answered for the Greyhounds with a layup but a quick six points gave the Eagles a 9-4 advantage with 13:34 showing on the clock.

Moravian made it a one-possession game but Juniata pushed its lead out to six points, 14-8, at 9:32. A 12-5 Greyhound run gave the visitors a 20-19 advantage with exactly six minutes remaining in the half. A 12-4 JC run to end the frame gave Juniata a seven-point lead, 31-24, at halftime.

The beginning of the second half started off sloppy as neither team could convert a basket. A traditional three-point play from O'Neil cut the Eagle lead to 31-27 and started a 12-2 run that saw Moravian go ahead 36-33 at 14:24.

The game would change hands four times and tied twice in under six minutes of game time. After the second tie, five straight points from Izel Dickerson gave the Greyhounds their biggest lead of the game, 48-41, at 6:43.

A 10-2 run by the Eagles in just over two minutes of clock time turned the tide. Damon Rickens' (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) three-point basket at 3:26 capped off the run and gave the Eagles a 51-50 lead. A free throw from the Moravians' Brandon McGuire tied it at 51-all with 2:54 remaining. A pair of free throws from Lee at the two-minute mark gave the Eagles the lead back. Another pair of free throws from Koehler along with Seth Brewer (Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) gave Juniata a 57-51 lead with 37 seconds remaining and proved to be enough for the win.

Overall, Juniata had its second-best shooting performance of the season as it was good on 55.3% (21-of-38) of its shots. The defense held Moravian to 37% (19-of-51) shooting from the floor and 20% (4-of-20) from beyond the three-point arc.

With the victory, Juniata stops its three-game winless streak and finishes with a final record of 12-13 overall and 6-9 in the Landmark. Moravian ends its season at 5-20 overall and 3-13 in the conference.