Barons Top Eagles in Doc Greene Championship Game

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's basketball team battled but ultimately fell to a tremendous performance by the other team's lead guard, 85-79, Tuesday afternoon in the Doc Greene Championship game. 

William Littles Jr. led the way with a career-high 22 points and an assist, while Malcolm Griffith contributed 18 points, six rebounds, three steals, and an assist. Ty Kocak had 10 points, three rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Tre Yawn tallied eight points, five assists, and two steals. 

Franciscan was led by 49 (8-16 from three) points by Sawyer Butler. 

Griffith scored six of the Eagles' first eight points as Juniata kept pace with the Barons in the opening four minutes, as his layup off a Noah Bailey pass made it 9-8. 

A Franciscan surge saw them go up by 12, 26-14, with over eight minutes to go in the half. 

The Eagles got going from there, closing the half outscoring the visitors 22-16 to get back within six, 42-36 at the half. 

Littles tallied 12 points on 5-6 shooting (2-3 from the three-point line) in the first half. 

Juniata retook the lead early in the second half as Griffith finished through contact at the rim on a put-back following a steal. His foul shot made it 47-46. The teams traded buckets, as Kocak drove inside and scored, and Bruce got an old fashioned three points to make it 54-53. Yawn set up Griffith to knot things at 56-56, but from that point, the Barons slowly began to pull away. 

Another Kocak bucket in the paint made it 62-59, and the Barons responded by going on a 17-7 run that saw them leading 79-66 with two to play. 

The Barons made enough foul shots down the stretch to ice the win. 

The Eagles had a 37-31 edge on the glass and a 40-14 advantage in points off the bench. 

Juniata returns to action as they travel to take on Messiah on Saturday, January 3, at three.