Rangers Big First Half Too Much For Eagles to Overcome in Landmark Tournament Semifinals
MADISON, N.J.- The Juniata men’s basketball team couldn’t overcome the hot first-half shooting of Drew as they lost, 72-61, Wednesday evening at Baldwin Gym in the Landmark Tournament semifinals.
MADISON, N.J.- The Juniata men's basketball team couldn't overcome the hot first-half shooting of Drew as they lost, 72-61, Wednesday evening at Baldwin Gym in the Landmark Tournament semifinals.
The Rangers came out of the gates strong as they went up 8-0 early as Juniata struggled to find success against the Drew full-court pressure in the opening four minutes. Following a JC timeout, Evan Eisenhart (York, Pa. / Central York H.S.) got the ball from Kyle Ruggery (Duncansville, PA / Bishop Guilfoyle HS) at the top key, pump-faked an on-rushing defender out of the way before taking a dribble inside of the foul line and swishing the first Eagle bucket of the game.
The Rangers scored on back-to-back trips down the floor, the second off an Eagle turnover to make it 12-2 as their press created more issues for Juniata. Juniata got through the press, and Cameron Keck (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro) found Eisenhart on the right-wing, and he nailed a three. Following a Drew layup, Eisenhart turned provider as he lobbed the ball to Chase Husted (DuBois, Pa. / DuBois Area HS) on the left block and laid the ball off the glass with his left hand.
Drew scored again inside; an Eagle turnover on one end was followed by a Ranger miss on the other. Eisenhart lined up a three from the right-wing that rolled all the way around the rim before falling out, but Marcus Hall (York, Pa. / Trinity) was there to clean up as his layup made it 16-9 with just over six minutes gone in the game.
The Rangers split a pair of free throws and followed that with a layup. The Eagles successfully navigated the Drew pressure as John Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic High School) kicked the ball ahead to Michael Montecalvo (Altoona, Pa. / Bishop Guilfoyle HS) on the right-wing, and he swished a three.
Neither team scored for nearly two minutes before Drew splashed a three; Husted found Hall above the foul line who banked in the jumper. The Rangers went down the other way and splashed another three, so JC called timeout. Husted scored inside on a jump hook off a feed from Keck to make it 25-16.
Drew rattled off six straight points, with a steal and a dunk from Andrew Bithell (Saxton, Pa. / Tussey Mountain HS) cutting the deficit to 13, 31-18.
The Rangers converted an and-one, and a three to push JC back down 19, before a Nick Rigby (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon H.S.) finger roll made it 37-20 with a little over a minute to go.
The Rangers scored twice more, on a layup and on a baseline jumper at the buzzer as the Eagles trailed by 21 at the half, 41-20.
The Eagles tried to get back in the game in the second half, cutting the deficit to 14 several times. Still, they couldn't manage to get any closer until the final minute on a Filippo Baldo (Easton, Pa. / Notre Dame Green Pond H.S.) layup followed by another by Rigby on a nice pass from Kohl Bernarding (Cochranton, Pa. / Cochranton H.S.) cut the deficit to 12. But it was too late as Drew went on to get the win and advance to the Landmark Championship, 72-61.
Drew outrebounded the Eagles 40-32 and managed to win without any help from their bench as Juniata held a 21-0 advantage in points off the bench.