Men's Basketball Drops Opener in Narrow Loss to PSU-Altoona
HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team couldn't find a game-tying shot in the final second as they fell to visiting Penn State Altoona in their home opener, 67-65, Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Gymnasium.
The opening bucket of the season came on an inbound pass from Ross Conway (Lancaster, Pa. / Lancaster Catholic HS) who found Chase Husted (DuBois, Pa. / DuBois Area HS) in the middle of the paint with his defender on his back as he laid the ball in for two.
Juniata assisted four of their first five shots, with Kohl Bernarding (Cochranton, Pa. / Cochranton H.S.) assisting two more Husted buckets. Bernarding then splashed a three from the right-wing, and Nick Rigby (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon H.S.) hit John Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic High School) for a jumper from the wing to make it 11-11, six and half minutes into the game.
The Eagle's energy was palpable all over the floor as they tipped passes and various players snagged offensive boards in the opening minutes.
With five minutes to go in the half, Kelly got the ball inside and commanded the attention of the defense. He pivoted away and found Evan Eisenhart (York, Pa. / Central York H.S.) in the right corner, who hit nothing but net to give JC the lead back at 30-28.
The teams were once again tied inside the final minute, before a Michael Montecalvo (Altoona, Pa. / Bishop Guilfoyle HS) triple, which made it 35-32. in the final second, after a JC stop, JC was inbounding from the left side of the floor. Kyle Ruggery (Duncansville, PA / Bishop Guilfoyle HS) hit Husted on the right-wing; he fired quickly and drained the jumper to send JC into the locker room ahead 37-32.
MBB up by 5 @ halftime! Chase Husted at the buzzer�� @JuniataBSKB pic.twitter.com/UZZxPcSZho
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) November 13, 2021
The Lions quickly narrowed the game to start the second half, and the teams traded buckets the rest of the way as neither team could get any separation.
In the final minute of the second half, a PSU-Altoona guard came off a screen and cashed a triple from the top of the key to give them a 66-63 lead. On the ensuing Eagle possession, Ruggery hit Eisenhart on a backdoor cut, and he laid it in off the glass while being fouled. He missed the ensuing foul shot, and PSU-Altoona raced down the floor. An excellence contest at the rim by Husted forced a miss, and Eisenhart sold out tip the ball to Conway, who took it up the floor. JC eventually called timeout to set up a play, but an errant pass on the following play ended up in a jump ball with the arrow favoring the Lions.
Juniata fouled, the Lions split the foul shots, with the Eagles rebounding the miss and calling a timeout. With 1.0 on the clock, Juniata tried to hit Husted above the top of the key, but the ball was intercepted to end the game.
Juniata will take on Pitt-Bradford, Tuesday at 7:00.