Big Second Half Effort Gives Juniata Men 60-46 Win at E-Town

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team trailed at halftime but used a big run in the second half to win 60-46 at Elizabethtown on Thursday night. The Eagles sweep the season series from the Blue Jays for the first time since the 2006-07 season when both teams were in the Mid-Atlantic Conference.

The first half saw the Eagles take an early 4-0 lead but the Blue Jays came back to tie the game. One team had an answer for the other as the two schools went back and forth for over seven minutes of game time. After Marcus Lee's (Carrolltown, Pa./Bishop Carroll) free throw gave JC a 16-15 lead with 7:06 remaining in the half, Elizabethtown went on a 10-4 run to take a 25-20 lead at the break.

In the second half, the Blue Jays still had a lead but the Eagles began to chip away at their deficit. Justin Fleming's (Richmond, Va./Benedictine College Prep) three-pointer at 15:47 gave Juniata its first lead since Lee's free throw at the 7:06 mark of the first half. Elizabethtown answered with a layup from Peter Harding but a Lee jumper gave the lead back to JC at 14:53.

The Blue Jays kept pace with the Eagles as they would tie the game up three times and then go up 38-37 with 9:23 remaining on the game clock. A pair of free throws from Damon Rickens (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) gave the advantage back the Juniata until a jumper from Matt Ziegler put E-town up 40-39 at 8:39. The Eagles then went on a 21-6 run to close out the game and take the win. The Juniata defense rose up as it held the Blue Jays without a basket for over five and a half minutes of game time.

Fleming led the Eagles in scoring with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and was 3-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc. Seth Brewer (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) added 12 points. Lee contributed 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his first double-double performance of the season. Kyle Koehler (Chester Springs, Pa./Devon Prep) scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out four assists, and came away with three steals.

The Eagles defense held the Blue Jays to 31.1 % (19-of-61) overall from the floor and just 18.2% (2-of-11) in three point shots. Both are season low totals for a Juniata opponent.

Juniata performed well at the charity stripe as it was 10-of-12 for 83.3%. It is the team's second best percentage so far in 2015-16.

Juniata goes to St. Davids, Pa. on Saturday as it will face Eastern University in non-conference play. Game time will be at 1 p.m.