Strong Second Half Leads Juniata Men Past Moravian, 53-31

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The Juniata College men's basketball team scored the first 16 points of the second half to snap a 22-22 halftime tie on its way to a 53-31 Landmark Conference win over host Moravian College Saturday afternoon in Johnston Hall.

The Greyhounds opened the scoring at the 18:05 mark on a jumper from sophomore guard D.J. Strayhorn before sophomore guard Alex Raymond tying the contest 15 seconds later. Moravian eventually pulled ahead 10-4 on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Garrett Johnson with 12:26 left in the half.

Raymond would give the Eagles the lead for the first time, 16-15, on a jumper with 2:55 before the intermission. Senior forward Bruce Knowles put Juniata up 20-17 with 51 seconds on the clock but Moravian scored the next five points. Eagle junior center Austin Ankney hit a lay-up with three seconds to play to send the contest to halftime tied at 22-22.

Both teams struggled to shoot the ball in the opening half. Moravian eight-for-25 from the field (32 percent), three-for-ten on three-pointers and three-for-four at the foul line, and the Greyhounds had a 23-12 advantage in rebounds while committing 14 turnovers. Juniata was nine-of-27 on field goal attempts (33.3 percent), two-of-five on three-pointers and two-of-two at the foul line while making nine turnovers.

The Eagles ran off the first 16 points of the second half with Knowles pushing Juniata's lead to 38-22 with a lay-up at the 14:03 mark. Moravian's first points of the second half were a lay-up by Strayhorn with 13:41 to play. Juniata's largest lead of the game was the final score, 53-31, after a three-point play by Ankney with 2:02 to go.

Juniata connected on 13-of-24 field goal attempts (52.4 percent), two-of-five three-pointers and three-of-four free throws in the second half, and the Eagles had just 13 turnovers. Moravian, which had a 41-29 advantage in rebounds, struggled to shoot in the second half, connecting on just four-of-27 field goal attempts (14.8 percent) and one-of-four three throws while missing all 13 of its three-point attempts. The Greyhounds committed 22 turnovers in the game.

Raymond led Juniata and all scorers with 18 points while Knowles tossed in 12 points. Ankney contributed nine points and four rebounds for the Eagles while freshman guard Lucas Mellott had eight rebounds and five assists. Freshman guard Jeremy Hays had five assists, five steals, four rebounds and three points for Juniata while sophomore forward Nate Higgins had five points. Junior guard Dan Sekulski finished with four points, three rebounds and three assists for the Eagles.

Johnson led Moravian with nine points and three rebounds while senior forward Chris Cullen contributed seven points and a game high nine rebounds. Strayhorn finished with six points, four assists and three rebounds for Moravian while freshman forward Cameron Cullen grabbed four boards.