Eagles Hold Off Greyhounds for Third Straight Conference Win
The sides traded points early in the contest, with a jumper from Mason Hardy and layups from Chase Husted and Gabe Guidinger giving the Eagles an early 6-5 lead. Guidinger's and-one was followed by two-of-two for Husted, enough to level the score at nine each.
Moravian hit a layup followed by a jump shot and layup from Nick Rigby for a 13-11 lead before a Moravian three-pointer again returned the lead to the Greyhounds. The Eagles stayed two to four points down until Evan Eisenhartstepped back from the top of the key for the first of five three-pointers from him. He did the same on the next possession to go ahead 25-21.
Kyle Ruggery snagged a rebound on the next play and sank a layup to go ahead by six. A Husted jumper and a Ross Conway layup with a free-throw conversion split a five-point spell from Moravian that put the hosts five points back with a few minutes to play in the first.
The Greyhounds ended the half on a nine-point run, heading into the break with a four-point advantage at 38-34.
Layups from Husted and Tyler Lapetina opened the second half to get Juniata back level at 38. Moravian followed this with a layup of their own before Conway got level on two free-throw attempts. Lapetina was fouled on the next possession, and he sank both of his free throws. Conway stole the ball on an errant pass and finished a reverse layup to go ahead by four. The Greyhounds put up six unanswered to claim the lead back with 13 minutes to play.
The Eagles fired back with eight straight points, including a pair of Eisenhart three-pointers, to go ahead 52-46. From here, the Eagles were tasked with maintaining a modest advantage over a Moravian side that stayed within 10 points up until the final buzzer.
Moravian got back within one before Husted hit a layup and buried a dunk to go back up by five. Moravian hit a three on their next play before a Ruggery three, and three straight free throws from Juniata put the Eagles ahead by eight with four minutes left.
The deficit remained within about a half dozen points up to a six-point run from Eisenhart that included his fifth three of the day, putting Juniata up by ten with ninety seconds to go.
A three-pointer from Moravian put them seven down with a minute to go, and the Greyhounds called a timeout. Juniata returned from the break with a Guidinger layup before another Moravian three-pointer put them six back. Ruggery was tactically fouled, and he converted both to go ahead by eight.
Moravian posted a layup and a three-pointer, putting them three points back with thirty seconds to play.
Eisenhart was fouled this time, and he hit one of two free throws to go ahead by four with 26 seconds remaining. Moravian hit a layup, but Guidinger was found driving from the left by Hardy for a layup that put Juniata up by four with 12 seconds to go.
Moravian was unable to score the rest of the away for a 79-75 final score.
The Juniata defense forced 19 turnovers from the Greyhounds with eight steals and 23 defensive rebounds.
Offensively, the Eagles converted 46.6% from the fields and 35.3% of their three-point attempts.
Juniata also tied for the lowest amount of personal fouls this season with 11.
Eisenhart's 19 points is a new season-high, with the junior converting five of six three-pointers off the bench.
Husted ended the day with his third double-double of the 2022-23 season with 18 points and 12 rebounds, going a perfect six-for-six from the free-throw line.
The Eagles are back in action on Sunday, January 15th, at 5:00 pm as they take on the Elizabethtown College Blue Jays at the neutral site of the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The Eagles are 73-91 all-time against the Blue Jays and enter following a pair of victories last season.