By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – On a last second three from senior Kevin Stapleton (Indiana, Pa./Indiana), the Juniata College men's basketball team defeated Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) 70-67 at home on the Memorial Gymnasium Court. Classmate Brian Scholly (State College, Pa./State College) finished the night with 14 points and reached the career milestone 1,000 points mark with his eighth point of the contest. CMU was coming off an upset win over the then No. 8 team in the country and the Eagles handed the Tartans their first loss of the season and held them to a season low 67 points.
"I think the way we won the game is what matters," said head coach Greg Curley. "We got out to a good lead early and then we struggled a little bit. We got on top of them and they started punching back. They're an awfully good team. I don't think we handled the second ten minutes of the first half very well. We were tentative and guys went away from executing because they were unsure. That's what we talked about at halftime. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. When you play good teams they can make the plays and we had to come back and focus on the process and worry about executing."
The first half saw Juniata jump out to an early lead off the shooting of sophomore Kyle Koehler(Chester Springs, Pa./Devon Prep.). The forward scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes from a .571 percentage. The Eagles held onto an eight point lead, 21-13, off a Scholly layup with 8:54 to go in the first half before the Tartans started to claw back in. Carnegie Mellon senior Asad Meghani hit four threes in the closing seven minutes and the Eagles found themselves down three at halftime.
Senior Jeremy Hays (McMechen, W. Va./John Marshall) danced his way through the paint for the first bucket of the second half to bring Juniata to within one. Hays finished the night with a team high 17 points from a .545 shooting percentage and 10 assists for his second double-double of the season. With his first three-pointer of the second half, Scholly notched his 1,000 point and added two threes to his program best 200-career three pointers. Hays nailed two free throws less than three minutes into the half to give the Eagles a 40-39 lead.
"We did a nice job [executing] in the second half," said Curley. "That was probably the most consistent defensive effort we've given the entire year. That's a very talented offensive team and they average about 85 points a game. To do what we did, that says a lot. We've made progress there."
Juniata started to build some second half momentum with a layup by Hays, strong defense from senior Pat Cassidy (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg), and a renewed effort from Stapleton. The Eagles continued to hold onto the lead, stretching it out to seven before calling a time out with 9:47 remaining and a 53-50 lead.
Carnegie Mellon tied the game at 53-53 on a free throw before Juniata took it back on two points from Scholly at the foul line. Stapleton nailed a shot from behind the arc for the four-point lead at 58-54. With sophomores Justin Fleming (Doswell, Va./Benedictine College Prep.) and Koehler putting in strong time off the bench, the two teams continued to trade free throws with the Tartans pulling to within two at 61-59 on a made free throw with 3:55 remaining.
"People ask us, 'who's your go-to guy,' and we don't have one," said Curley. "Our go-to guy is the open man. If you're open you have to make the right plays and do the right things. Maybe it's not shooting. It could be a drive or a post. I think we are getting better at that. For us to be good we have to be balanced. We haven't developed a true post threat so we have to do different things. We have to really be the sum of the parts rather than about the individuals and when we do that we're going to have success."
Koehler sunk a layup off a beautiful pass inside from Stapleton flowed by a Carnegie Mellon turnover and a score from senior Lucas Mellott (Warfordsburg, Pa./Southern Fulton) for the 65-59 Eagle lead with 1:59 remaining. Mellott finished the night with six points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
The hot hand of Maghani brought the Tartans to within three at 65-62 with 1:29 to go. Juniata was able to run the clock down to 56.9 seconds and Hays flipped in a layup for the late 67-62 lead. Continued strong shooting from behind the arc for the Tartans pulled them to within two at 67-65.
A potential final possession turnover allowed Carnegie Mellon to tie the game at 67-67. The Eagles inbounded the ball and worked it methodically down the court. Juniata continued to work the ball round the arc before Hays began to penetrate. It looked as though he would go for the game winner before he passed it off to Stapleton who took a shot from behind the arc that hit nothing but net on its way in with just three tenths remaining on the clock. A full court heave wasn't enough for the Tartans and Juniata finished with the dramatic 70-67 win.
The Eagles improve to 5-1 on the year and next play at home against Moravian College in the opening tipoff of the Landmark Conference season this Saturday, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m.
"I'm looking toward Saturday," said Curley. "As long as we get better from this one and it teaches us what we need to that's good. That's a really good basketball team so any way you slice it that's a great win for us."
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