(Posted February 12, 2005)

Huntingdon, Pa. ? A solid shooting night from the Juniata College men?s basketball team was not enough to overcome a second-half three-point attack from visiting Albright College as Juniata suffered a 75-57 loss in its home finale in Huntingdon Saturday evening. Juniata drops to 8-15 overall and 3-9 in the conference with the loss, while Albright holds its lead atop the conference with a 16-6 overall record and a 10-2 mark in conference play.

Juniata opened the second half trailing by seven, but quickly whittled the lead to three after back-to-back baskets from Tommy McConnell (Bishop Guilfoyle/Hollidaysburg) and Neil Holloway (Tussey Mountain/Saxton). Albright then got hot from long range as the Lions converted six three pointers over the next seven minutes to push the lead up to 15 with 11:36 to play. The Eagles had a pair of baskets from Chris Jasiota (Oil City/Oil City) along with a hoop from Holloway and a three from Aaron Chamberlain (Tussey Mountain/Wood) during the stretch to keep the lead within shouting distance.

After Juniata pulled within 13, Albright again answered, extending the lead to 19 with 8:25 remaining. Juniata continued to battle with Brian Cannon (Fallston/Fallston, Md.) scoring twice to help cut the deficit to 13 with 5:27 remaining. After a long Albright possession that featured several offensive rebounds Cannon scored again to bring Juniata within 11 with 3:37 left. That was as close as Juniata got as Albright put together a quick 7-0 run, capped by a three from Trevor Deeter to put the game away.

The game was tight for most of the first half though Albright held the lead for most of the 20 minutes. Travis Boyd (Juniata Valley/Barree) came off the bench to hit a three pointer and tie the game at 11. Cannon then scored on back-to-back possessions to give Juniata its only lead of the game at 17-16 with 10:08 remaining in the half. The visitors answered back moving back in front by four. Another Boyd three knotted the score again, this time at 25, before Albright closed the half on a 9-2 run over the final 4:25 to send the Eagles into the locker room trailing by seven.

Cannon finished with a team-high 16 points for the Eagles, the third time in Juniata?s last five games that he has put up 16 points. Holloway and Chamberlain both added 10 while Nick Hager (Franklin/Franklin) led Juniata with five rebounds and four assists.

Deeter was the high scorer in the game as he netted 21. Elu Lawrence scored 13 on 4-of-9 shooting from long range, while Ben Gallagher chipped in 11. Gallager also led the team with nine rebounds, while three Lions each had four assists.

Juniata will play its final two games on the road beginning with a game at Susquehanna on Tuesday.

ALBRIGHT (75): Deeter 8 4-6 21, Kieselowsky 1 0-0 3, Lawrence 4 1-3 13, Gallagher 5 0-0 11, Walter 1 1-2 3, Gallman 1 0-0 2, Conroy 2 0-0 6, Linden 0 0-0 0, Kovensky 0 0-0 0, Schneider 0 0-0 0, Medoro 0 0-0 0, Harvey 4 0-1 8, Boles 0 0-0 0, Winebrenner 2 0-0 6, Murphy 0 2-2 2. Totals ? 28 8 75

JUNIATA (57): Jasiota 2 3-3 7, McConnell 1 0-0 2, Holloway 4 2-2 1-, Cannon 7 22-2 16, Hager 1 0-0 2, Byer 1 0-0 2, Ferko 1 0-0 2, Opitz 0 0-0 0, LaPrad 0 0-0 0, Chamberlain 3 2-2 10, Price 0 0-0 0, Boyd 2 0-0 6, Littleton 0 0-0 0, Holencik 0 0-0 0, Bull 0 0-0 0. Totals ? 22 9-9 57

Halftime: Albright 34-27. 3-point goals: Juniata 4 (Chamberlain 2, Boyd 2); Albright 11 (Lawrence 4, Conroy 2, Winebrenner 2, Deeter, Kieselowsky, Gallagher). Assists: Juniata 9 (Hager 4); Albright 21 (Kieselowsky, Lawrence, Gallagher 4). Rebounds: 22 (Hager 5); Albright 48 (Gallagher 9).


Records: Juniata (8-15); Albright (16-6).

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