(Posted November 22, 2005)

Franklin & Marshall 82, Juniata 60

Lancaster, Pa. ? Juniata College sophomore Brian Cannon (Fallston/Fallston, Md.) scored a career-high 29 points but it wasn?t enough to overcome a strong second half from Franklin & Marshall as the Eagles dropped an 82-60 decision in Lancaster Tuesday night. The loss was the first of the season for Juniata and brought its record to 2-1 overall, while the Diplomats improved to 2-1.

Cannon established a previous career best with 24 points in the Eagles championship game win of the 2005 Mutual Benefit Group ?Doc? Greene Invitational, but topped that with 29 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 from the foul line. The sophomore also grabbed a team-high six rebounds in the game.

A strong first half from Cannon helped keep Juniata within striking distance of the home team as the Blue and Gold were trailing just 33-31 after the first 20 minutes. Cannon had 21 points at halftime but the Diplomats countered with 33 points on 52-percent shooting from the field.

The home team was then too much for Juniata to overcome in the second half as they hit more than 60-percent from the field in the second half, and outscored Juniata 15-8 from the foul line as they scored 49 points in the final 20 minutes.

The Eagles got nine second-half points from Nick Hager (Franklin/Franklin), who finished with 14, but struggled from both the foul line and long range. Juniata?s normally solid free throw shooting was off slightly as the Eagles missed seven free throws and were also 1-of-10 from long range. But the Eagles were still able to hang with the perennial NCAA Tournament team for most of the half before the home team pulled away.

Franklin & Marshall had four players in double figures, led by Brandon Smith who scored 25 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds. Bryan Teschke added 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field while going 6-of-7 from the line. Logan Outerbridge and Derek Hines added 13 and 11 respectively. Outerbridge also passed out a game-high four assists.

Juniata gets back into action with action on Saturday and Sunday in a tournament at Allegheny College.

###

Our readers respond...

Be the first to provide a response.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.