By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College men's basketball team suffered an overtime buzzer beater loss to Landmark Conference opponent Drew University, 64-63. The Eagles fell to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
"I thought the story was the beginning and end of the first half – the first five minutes of the first half and the last five minutes," said head coach Greg Curley. "We had stretches in there where we didn't play well. You have to give them credit - they are a good defensive team. I thought their length bothered us and they're big and have some guys that can play."
Drew jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before the Eagles were able to respond with a trey from senior Brian Scholly (State College, Pa./State College) to pull within two at 7-5. Senior Jeremy Hays (McMechen, W. Va./John Marshall) drove to the net inside for the layup followed by solid defensive stop and a baseline drive by senior Kevin Stapleton (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) to pull within one at 12-11.
A tricky pass inside from senior Dimitri Ross (Petersburg, Va./Appomattox Regional Governor's School) gave Scholly room in the paint for the jumper to hold Drew's lead to one at 14-13. The Eagles followed up with a defensive stop and Scholly drove inside again to give Juniata the lead, 15-14, with 8:08 on the clock. Hays threaded a pass between two defenders to senior Pat Cassidy (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) who made a tricky reverse layup for the 21-15 lead.
After yet another strong defensive stop that resulted in an air ball from a Ranger perimeter shooter, Hays dished the ball to Ross for a nothing-but-net trey and the eight point Eagle lead. Juniata's high-pressure defense helped slow down the speedy Rangers transition offense and the Eagles were able to carry a 25-23 lead into the break. Senior Lucas Mellott (Warfordsburg, Pa./Southern Fulton) grabbed a first-half-high six rebounds and finished the day with a game-high 10.
On a drive down the court, Scholly made a leaping rebound to continue the possession and then grabbed another rebound inside and nailed the layup for the 31-26 Juniata lead. The forward finished the night with 13 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Colin Cameron (Collegeville, Pa./Pope John Paul II) and first year player Nate Ogle (Falls Church, Va./George Mason) put in valuable time off the bench to help Juniata to an eight-point lead at 36-28 with 12:50 on the clock.
The Rangers perimeter shooting picked up in the second half pulling within two at 46-44 with just under seven minutes left to play. The Rangers finished the night shooting 39% from behind the arc. Stapleton broke the 46-46 tie out of a time out with a layup from a tight pass inside by sophomore Kyle Koehler (Chester Springs, Pa./Devon Prep.). Drew grabbed their first lead since the first half, 50-48, on back-to-back layups to force an Eagle timeout with 2:36 left to play.
Out of the timeout, Hays looped in a layup to tie the game at 50 all with 2:03 remaining. After a full shot clock stop by the Eagles, Stapleton sunk a monster trey from behind the NBA arc on a dish outside by Hays for the 53-50 lead with 1:30 left in regulation.
A Rangers foul shot tied the game with 24.1 on the clock. The next shot bounced off the rim and Scholly came down with it to give the Eagles the final possession in regulation. Juniata couldn't convert and the game went into overtime.
On the Eagles first possession of extra time, Scholly fed the ball inside to Mellott who made a great move to the basket for the two-point lead. Hays snatched a steal on the Rangers next possession and assisted Mellott for the 57-54 advantage. Hays' six steals on the night tied a career-high for him, to which he added a game-high 22 points.
Drew's deep shooters tied the game at 59-59 with 2:24 to go. Two made free-throws from both teams gave Juniata the ball with just 34 seconds left and a 61-61 tie. Hays fed the ball to Mellott on the baseline. He jumped up through two Drew defenders and put the layup in for the 63-61 lead with 3.5 seconds left on the clock. The Rangers last second heave was good from behind the arc for the 64-63 buzzer beater win.
"There were just a couple of breakdowns at the wrong time," said Curley. "We kept guarding them and made adjustments and made two guys, that are not their best shooters, shoot the ball, and they made some plays. I've got to get better. We've got to get better. That kind of play at the end has happened to us too many times and I've got to get us better prepared."
The Eagles are on the road for the next week of Landmark play. Juniata returns home Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. to face Susquehanna University in Memorial Gymnasium.
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