(Posted January 11, 2006)

Elizabethtown 86, Juniata 79

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - The Juniata College men's basketball team battled back throughout the contest but was unable to overcome an early deficit as the Eagles suffered an 86-79 set-back to Elizabethtown College in Commonwealth Conference action at Thompson Gymnasium Wednesday night.

Aaron Chamberlain (Tussey Mountain/Wood) scored a season-high 23 points for the Eagles who finished with five players in double figures but still fell to 7-7 on the year and 2-1 in conference play. The victory was the first conference win for the Blue Jays who improved to 2-1 in the conference and 9-4 overall.

Juniata trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half after scoring just five points through the first 10 minutes of the game. But the Eagles found their offensive rhythm and slowly cut into the lead, pulling to within four points as they closed the half with a 7-0 run, capped by a Chamberlain three at the buzzer.

Elizabethtown quickly pushed the lead back into double figures at the start of the second half, only to see Juniata rally again, finally pulling with three points after a three-point play from Brian Cannon (Fallston/Fallston, Md.). The Blue Jays continued to hold the Eagles off as Greg Brizek answered Cannon's bucket with a three to spark a 10-1 run to take a 63-51 lead with 8:08 remaining.

Trailing by 12, the Eagles answered with a 11-1 run of their own, in which Chamberlain scored nine of the points cutting the lead back down to three with 4:18 left in the game. Elizabethtown's Michael Schatzmann and Travis Boyd (Juniata Valley/Baree) then exchanged threes which kept Juniata within three with 3:51 remaining. But that was as close as the Eagles got as the home team made 14 of 16 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the victory.

Juniata shot 44-percent from the field and outrebounded the home team 41-33, but the Eagles committed 22 turnovers and were 22-of-34 at the foul line.

Chamberlain was 7-of-11 from the field in the game to lead Juniata. Boyd added 16 points while Chris Jasiota (Oil City/Oil City) earned a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Cannon finished with 11 while Tommy McConnell (Bishop Guilfoyle/Hollidaysburg) added 10. Nick Hager (Franklin/Franklin) led the team with five assists.

The Blue Jays had four players in double figures, led by Brizek who scored 19 and added a team-high five assists. Brad Schreiber scored 17 points while Brian Schreiber and Greg Adams added 13 and 12 respectively. Brian Schreiber led the team with seven rebounds.

Juniata looks to get back in the win column on Saturday when they play at conference foe Widener.

JUNIATA (79): Jasiota 6 1-2 13, Boyd 5 3-6 16, McConnell 2 5-7 10, Cannon 5 1-2 11, Hager 0 1-2 1, Byer 0 1-2 1, Ferko 0 0-0 0, Opitz 0 0-0 0, Chamberlain 7 6-7 23, Holloway 0 4-6 4. Totals - 25 22-34 79.

ELIZABETHTOWN (94): Brizek 6 4-4 19, Adams 4 3-4 12, Piersol 4 0-0 9, Bri. Schreiber 5 3-3 13, Bra. Schreiber 8 1-2 17, Ledyard 0 2-2 2, Goodwin 0 3-5 3, Kieres 0 0-0 0, Schatzmann 3 0-0 9, Shade 0 0-0 0, Kennedy 0 2-2 2. Totals - 30 18-22 86.

Halftime: Elizabethtown 32-28. 3-point goals: Juniata 7 (Boyd 3, Chamberlain 3, McConnell); Elizabethtown 8 (Brizek 3, Schatzmann 3, Adams Piersol). Assists: Juniata 16 (Hager 5); Elizabethtown 21 (Brizek 5). Rebounds: Juniata 41 (Jasiota 11); Elizabethtown 33 (Bri. Schreiber 7).

Records: Juniata (7-7, 2-1), Elizabethtown (9-4, 1-2).

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