Key Second Half Scranton Run Gives Royals 84-71 Win Over Juniata

SCRANTON, Pa.- Host Scranton used a big run early in the second half to take a lead it would not let go as they defeated Juniata 84-71 on Saturday afternoon at the John Long Center. The loss drops the Eagles to 14-8 overall and 7-6 in the Landmark Conference. The Royals improve to 16-5 overall and 9-4 in the league.

Scranton started out fast as it led 9-0 after over two and a half minutes of game time. Marcus Lee's (Carrolltown, Pa./Bishop Carroll) jump shot at 17:11 gave JC its first points of the game. Still trailing by nine points, 13-4, at 15:01, a pair of free throws from Lee followed by a layup from Nate Ogle (Falls Church, Va./George Mason) cut the Royal lead to 13-8 at 14:28.

Juniata trailed 25-13 with 5:53 remaining in the first after a three-point shot from Kevin Doolan. After a JC timeout, Kyle Koehler (Chester Springs, Pa./Devon Prep) answered for the Eagles with a trey of his own that started a 14-3 run for the Blue and Gold to end the first half and the Eagles only trailed 31-27 at the break.

The Eagles continued their push in the second half. Layups from Dennis Fisher (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle Area) and Justin Fleming (Richmond, Va./Benedictine College Prep) tied the score at 31-31 at the 17:38 mark. After a Scranton layup by Brendan Boken, Fleming responded with a jumper to knot the score at 33-all. A 16-3 Scranton run put a halt on JC's comeback as the Royals went up 49-36 with 13 minutes remaining.

The Eagles got as close as nine points, 66-57, with 5:35 to play. JC could not reduce its deficit any further as Scranton made 16 free throws down the stretch to come away with the win.

Despite the score, Juniata tied it best shooting percentage this season as it made 28-of-51 (54.9%) of its shots and bettered Scranton's performance of 29-of-55 (52.7%). Neither team fared well from beyond the three-point arc as JC was 4-of-14 (28.6%) and Scranton was 4-of-13 (30.8%).

Lee led the way in points with 22 and also in rebounds with seven. Fleming put up 12 points and dished out five assists. Koehler added 11 points.

The Eagles committed 21 turnovers in the game to 13 for the Royals. Scranton would capitalize on the JC miscues as it scored 31 points.

Juniata is idle this week and returns to action next Saturday February 13 when it hosts Merchant Marine on Senior Day. Game time will be at 2 p.m.