(Posted January 25, 2006)

Lebanon Valley 89, Juniata 84 (2OT)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. ? On this night the Juniata College men?s basketball team?s comeback fell just short as the Eagles suffered an 89-84 loss to Lebanon Valley College in double-overtime in Memorial Gym Wednesday night.

Juniata trailed the entire game until the final minute, and rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to force the overtime. Tommy McConnell (Bishop Guilfoyle/Hollidaysburg) hit a late three to pull the Eagles within two, and then converted a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left to tie the score. Lebanon Valley?s attempt at a game-winner missed to send the contest into overtime.

The Eagles claimed their first lead of the game in the extra session, jumping in front by seven after threes from Nick Hager (Franklin/Franklin) and McConnell along with a Brian Cannon (Fallston/Fallston, Md.) lay-up. Back-to-back Lebanon Valley threes cut the lead to one with 40 seconds remaining. Juniata?s Aaron Chamberlain (Tussey Mountain/Wood) sank one of two free throws, but Lebanon Valley?s Dave Kasyan converted a lay-up on an offensive rebound to tie the score at 81. This time McConnell?s attempt at a game-winner just missed sending the game to a second overtime.

Juniata?s offense then deserted it in the second overtime as the visitors built a seven-point lead as the Eagles were held scoreless until Chamberlain knocked in a three with five seconds left in the extra session.

After trailing by 10 at the break, the Eagles got a quick score from Chris Jasiota (Oil City/Oil City) to pull within eight. But the Flying Dutchmen answered as a pair of buckets from Jimmy Curran helped the visitors extend the lead to 17 points.

From there, Juniata just chipped away at the lead, primarily with its pressure defense. The Eagles shot just 31 percent from the field in the second half, but hounded the visitors into 15 second-half turnovers. The Eagles got the lead back into single digits at the 10 minute mark, and pulled within five points on three occasions, the last one with 2:12 remaining, setting up the final dramatic minues.

Cannon finished with a team-high 21 points for the Eagles, while Chamberlain notched 15. Jasiota scored 14 points and pulled in a career-high 17 rebounds, while McConnell also finished with 14.

Curran led all players with 26 points while Dan Hogan added 20. Kasyan scored 13 and pulled down a team-high 14 rebounds for the Flying Dutchmen.

Juniata returns to action with a game at Commonwealth Conference foe Moravian on Saturday.

LEBANON VALLEY (89): Curran 10 1-4 26, Bretschneider 4 1-3 12, Enoch 0 4-6 4, Hogan 9 2-4 20, Kasyan 6 1-3 13, Kerns 0 0-0 0, Hodge 4 2-3 12, Wolensky 0 0-0 0, Ruth 1 0-0 2, Foster 0 0-0 0. Totals ? 34 11-23 89.

JUNIATA (84): Jasiota 6 2-6 14, Boyd 3 0-0 7, McConnell 3 6-8 14, Cannon 8 5-6 21, Hager 3 0-0 8, Byer 1 1-4 3, Ferko 0 0-0 0, Opitz 1 0-0 2, Chamberlain 4 5-7 15, Price 0 0-0 0. Totals ? 29 19-31 84

Halftime: Lebanon Valley 42-32. 3-point goals: Lebanon Valley 10 (Curran 5, Bretschneider 3, Hodge 2); Juniata 7 (McConnell 2, Hager 2, Chamberlain 2, Boyd 1). Assists: Lebanon Valley 17 (Curran, Enoch 6); Juniata 10 (McConnell 4). Rebounds: Lebanon Valley 53 (Kasyan 14); Juniata 54 (Jasiota 17).

Records: Lebanon Valley (9-9, 3-4 Commonwealth), Juniata (9-9, 4-3, Commonwealth).

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