(Posted January 5, 2006)

Juniata 73, Case Western Reserve 67

HUNTINGDON, Pa. ? Travis Boyd (Juniata Valley/Barree) drilled a pair of three pointers in the final two minutes and finished with a team high 17 points to help the Juniata College men?s basketball team hold of visiting Case Western Reserve University 73-67 in non-conference action Thursday night in Memorial Gym.

With Juniata leading by just one point with 1:44 remaining Boyd drilled a three from the right elbow to give the Eagles a 66-62 lead. After a Case Western free throw cut the lead to three Boyd knocked down another triple with the shot clock running down on Juniata?s next possession extending the Eagles? lead to six with just 31 seconds left. The Blue and Gold then made five free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Boyd shot 6-of-9 from the field, and added a team-best 10 rebounds to record the double-double.

Juniata raced to its biggest lead of the game mid-way through the second half as a pair of Neil Holloway (Tussey Mountain/Saxton) free throws put the Eagles in front by nine with 13:26 showing on the clock. The visitors would whittle away at the lead finally moving in front on a Mason Conrad bucket at the 7:08 mark. Juniata reclaimed the lead briefly only to have the Spartans move back in front by five after three more Conrad baskets.

Juniata took the lead back after Chris Jasiota (Oil City/Oil City) converted in the lane and was fouled, but he missed the free throw leaving Juniata in front by only one with 3:38 left. Case Western?s Steve Young gave the visitors the lead again with a three, but Juniata countered with a three and then a runner in the lane from Nick Hager (Franklin/Franklin) to claim a three-point edge before Boyd took over in the final two minutes.

Juniata?s nine-point edge early in the second half was the largest lead of the game as the two teams stayed within striking distance of each other throughout the contest. The first have saw neither team hold more than a six-point edge at any time, and also featured five ties.

Jasiota finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles, while missing just two shots from the field. Brian Cannon (Fallston/Fallston, Md.) and Aaron Chamberlain (Tussey Mountain/Wood) both added 11 points. Tommy McConnell (Bishop Guilfoyle/Hollidaysburg) passed out a team-high four assists.

Conrad was the primary offensive weapon for the Spartans as he scored a game high 21 points while also pulling down nine rebounds. Funso Lafe chipped in nine points for the visitors who fell to 8-3 with the loss. Carson Oren also scored nine points while adding a team-high four assists and Matt Cannan led the team with 10 rebounds.

The game was the final non-conference game of the season for Juniata as they will now close out the year with 12-straight conference games, the first of which will be at Elizabethtown on Wednesday.

CASE WESTERN RESERVE (67): Cannan 2 2-4 6, Mullen 2 0-0 6, Oren 3 3-4 9, Bradford 1 0-0 3, Conrad 10 1-2 21, Young 2 0-0 5, Lafe 3 3-5 9, Bommer 2 2-2 6, Sutton 1 0-0 2. Totals ? 26 11-17 67

JUNIATA (73): Jasiota 6 0-1 12, Boyd 6 1-2 17, McConnell 1 2-3 5, Cannon 4 3-4 11, Hager 3 2-2 9, Byer 1 0-0 2, Ferko 2 0-0 4, Opitz 0 0-0 0, Chamberlain 4 0-0 11, Holloway 0 2-4 2. Totals ? 27 10-16 73

Halftime: Juniata 32-28. 3-point goals: Case Western Reserve 4 (Mullen 2, Bradford, Young); Juniata 9 (Boyd 4, Chamberlain 3, McConnell, Hager). Assists: Case Western Reserve 13 (Oren 4); Juniata 17 (McConnell 4). Rebounds: Case Western Reserve 47 (Cannan 10); Juniata 33 (Boyd 10).

Records: Case Western Reserve (8-3), Juniata (7-6).

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