(Posted December 3, 2005)

Juniata 100, Moravian 70

Huntingdon, Pa. ? The Juniata College men?s basketball team had four players score in double figures and shot a blistering 60 percent from the field as the Eagles downed Moravian College 100-70 Saturday night in Memorial Gym. Juniata is now 5-2 overall and 2-0 in conference, while the Greyhounds fell to 1-5 on the year and 0-2 in conference play.

The Eagles are now 2-0 in conference for the first time since the 2002-03 season, a year in which they narrowly missed claiming a spot in the conference postseason.

Juniata never trailed in the game, and took control of the action with a 13-0 run mid-way through the first half. Brent Ferko (Freeport/Sarver) had a pair of baskets during the stretch, while Nick Hager (Franklin/Franklin) and Aaron Chamberlain (Tussey Mountain/Wood) both drilled threes to extend the lead. The run was capped by a Kyle Opitz (Pine-Richland/Gibsonia) three-point play that left the Eagles in front 31-15 with 10:37 left in the half.

Moravian whittled the lead down to 12 after a pair of jumpers from Ed Reid and would keep the lead in the lower teens until the 5:10 mark of the first half. From there, the home team closed the half with a 17-0 nothing run that took Juniata into halftime leading 55-25. Travis Boyd (Juniata Valley/Barree) scored six of his game-high 19 points during the stretch.

Though the two teams would score identical totals of 45 points in the second half, Juniata kept the Greyhounds at bay throughout the final 20 minutes. A 10-0 run from the visitors mid-way through the stanza cut Juniata?s lead to 21 with 8:36 remaining, but the Eagles hit 16-of-21 free throws in the second half to never allow the lead to get inside 20. Dave Thompson (Altoona/Altoona) drilled a three with 26 seconds left to have Juniata reach the century mark.

Boyd finished one rebound shy of a ?double-double? as he grabbed a team-high nine boards to go with his 19 points. Brian Cannon (Fallston/Fallston, Md.) added 17 points and eight rebounds for Juniata which out-rebounded Moravian 43-30 on the game. Chris Jasiota (Oil City/Oil City) chipped in with 13 points and a pair of blocks, while Ferko finished with 10 points. Tommy McConnell (Bishop Guilfoyle/Hollidaysburg) led the team with five assists.

Reid scored 16 points to pace the Greyhounds, while Ryan Miller contributed 10. Mark Franzyshen was in double figures with 12 points and had a team-high five rebounds. Justin Chestnut led the team with five assists.

Juniata takes on non-conference foe Grove City in its next outing which will be Monday night.

MORAVIAN (70): Miller 4 0-1 10, Chestnut 3 1-2 7, Reid 7 2-4 16, Zsilavecz 1 1-2 3, Devlin 3 2-2 9, Earley 2 0-2 5, Clemente 0 0-0 0, Bas 0 0-0 0, Depasquale 1 0-0 3, Whitman 1 0-0 2, Buynovsky 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 1-2 1, Tripucka 1 0-0 2, Peck 0 0-0 0, Franzyshen 5 2-2 12. Totals ? 28 9-17 70.

JUNIATA (100): Jasiota 6 1-1 13, Boyd 8 1-2 19, McConnell 1 4-5 6, Cannon 7 3-5 17, Hager 3 0-0 9, Byer 0 0-1 0, Ferko 5 0-1 10, opitz 2 3-3 7, Mirizio 0 0-0 0, Esperance 1 3-4 5, Bull 0 0-0 0, Chamberlain 2 0-0 5, Price 0 0-0 0, Thompson 1 0-0 3, Holencik 0 0-0 0, Holloway 0 4-4 4, Weber 0 0-0 0, Preuss 0 2-2 2. Totals ? 36 21-28 100.

Halftime: Juniata 55-25. 3-point goals: Moravian 5 (Miller 2, Devlin, Earley, Depasquale); Juniata 7 (Hager 3, Boys, 3, Chamberlain, Thompson). Assists: Moravian 10 (Chestnut 5); Juniata 21 (McConnell 5). Rebounds: Moravian 30 (Franzyshen 5); Juniata 43 (Boyd 9).


Records: Juniata (5-2); Moravian (1-5).

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