Strong Second Half Defense Elevates Eagles Over Elizabethtown at the Palestra
January 15, 2023

Strong Second Half Defense Elevates Eagles Over Elizabethtown at the Palestra

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PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- The Philadelphia Eagles may be on a bye this week, but the Juniata men's basketball team made sure an Eagle picked up a win in Philadelphia as they used stifling second-half defense to defeat Elizabethtown, 66-53, Sunday afternoon at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The win is the seventh straight for the Eagles, and they remain unbeaten in conference play at 4-0. 

Gabe Guidinger got things started with a three off a pass from Chase Husted, with the Blue Jays countering with a three of their own on the other end. Tyler Lapetina scored the next two buckets for the Eagles on a strong drive to the hoop from the left wing that he finished with the left. He followed with a smooth reverse layup, which made it 8-7 Elizabethtown. 

The Eagles went ahead on back-to-back scores by Husted, Evan Eisenhart made a foul shot, and Guidinger swished another three as JC led by three midway through the first half. The teams were tied 18-18 a few minutes later before Mason Hardy stole the ball on one end, raced up the floor, and through a pass past several Elizabethtown players to Lapetina, who laid it in. Two more Husted buckets and Nick Rigby's layup made it 26-21. 

The Blue Jays got back within two at 28-26, prior to a pair of Hardy foul shots and Ross Conway's second three of the game, which pushed the lead back to seven, 33-26. The Blue Jays nailed a jumper in the final seconds as JC led by five at the break, 33-28. 

Husted passed out of a double team at the foul line to an open Lapetina under the hoop, who scored the first points of the second half. Guidinger sunk a jumper, the Blue Jays countered with one of their own, and Husted found Hardy in the left corner for a three. After a stop, Hardy grabbed the rebound, sprinted up the floor, and flipped the ball to Kyle Ruggery, who found the bottom of the net to push the lead to 13. 

The Eagles would lead by as many as 21 after two foul shots from Guidinger with ten and a half minutes to play in the game.

Elizabethtown didn't go quietly. Over the next few minutes, they managed to use full-court pressure and tough buckets in the paint to slice the Eagle lead to 11 with just under six to go in the game. 

A Guidinger layup off a pass from Conway and a Lapetina layup off another Conway assist interrupted the Blue Jay rally. Lapetina scored again, this time off a pass from Guidinger. Elizabethtown split a pair of foul shots, Hardy danced through some pressure and found Conway for a wide-open three on the left wing to make it 62-43 with three and a half to go. A Husted dunk off a Lapetina pass seemed to take the air out of the Blue Jay's comeback. The Eagles wound up winning by 13. 

Juniata held a 44-37 advantage on the glass and held the Blue Jays to 35.5% shooting from the floor. 

Juniata will look to extend their seven-game win streak at home this Wednesday when they host Susquehanna at 7:00.