(Posted January 15, 2005)

Juniata, 86, Moravian 86

Huntingdon, Pa. ? It came later in the season than the team would have wanted, but the Juniata College men?s basketball team (6-9, 1-3) claimed its first Commonwealth Conference victory of the season with an 86-66 win over Moravian College (4-11, 2-2) in Huntingdon Saturday night.

Juniata scored 52 points on the second half, 23 of them at the free throw line where the Eagles were 29-of-33 for the game, to put extend a five-point halftime lead into a 20-point victory.

Juniata finished with five players in double figures, led by Chris Jasiota (Oil City/Oil City) who poured in 15 points and grabbed five rebounds. Kyle Opitz (Pine Richland/Gibsonia), Jeff Byer (Conemaugh Twp./Davidsville) and Travis Boyd (Juniata Valley/Barree) all added 13 points, with Tommy McConnell (Bishop Guilfoyle/Hollidaysburg) chipping in 10. McConnell was tops on the team with seven assists, while Byer matched Jasiota with five rebounds.

Brandon Zaleski scored a game-high 23 points while also pulling in seven rebounds. Michael Clemente was also in double figures with 11 points. Matt Devlin pulled in a game-high seven rebounds, with Clemente pacing the team with four assists.

Juniata began to pull away midway through the second half with a 9-2 run capped by a three from Opitz. The stretch ended with Juniata holding a 58-48 edge with 9:03 remaining in the game. The Greyhounds pulled within four three minutes later after back-to-back threes from Clemente. The Eagles answered with an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to put the game out of reach.

Juniata?s free throw edge countered an overwhelming rebounding edge for Moravian. Juniata hit 15 more free throws than the visitors, while Moravian out-rebounded Juniata 43-22. Juniata shot 46-percent from the field for the game, with its 86 points a season-high in a conference game for the year.

The first half featured six ties and a number of lead changes, as neither team led by more than seven. A bucket from Boyd had the Eagles in front by seven at the 6:01 mark in the half, but a 7-0 run from Moravian tied the game for the fifth time. Juniata pulled back in front with 3:16 to go, and then had Byer convert a three-point play with two seconds left in the half to give Juniata a 34-29 lead heading into the locker room

Juniata will look to pick up back-to-back conference wins when the Eagles host Commonwealth foe Susquehanna on Wednesday.

JUNIATA (86): Byer 6 1-1 13, Chamberlain 2 5-6 9, Boyd 5 1-2 13, McConnell 2 6-7 10, Hager 3 1-1 Ferko 0 0-0 0, Jasiota 5 5-6 15, Opitz 2 8-8 13, LaPrad 0 0-0 0, Price 0 0-0 0, Littleton 0 0-0 0, Holencik 1 0-0 2, Bull 0 0-0 0, Cannon 0 2-2 2. Totals ? 26 29-33 86

MORAVIAN (66): Wenderfer 0 0-4 0, Reid 4 0-0 9, Chestnut 2 0-0 5, Zsilavecz 2 3-3 8, Zaleski 7 9-14 23, Jones 0 0-0 0, Clemente 4 0-1 11, Early 0 0-0 0, Peck 0 0-0 0, Hatfield 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Walker 0 0-0 0, Depasquale 0 0-0 0, Fransyshen 0 0-0 0, Betley 1 2-2 5, Devlin 2 0-0 5, Tripucka 0 0-0 0, Buynovsky 0 0-0 0. Totals ? 22 14 66

Halftime: Juniata 34-29. 3-point goals: Juniata 5 (Boyd 2, Hager 2, Opitz); Moravian 8 (Clemente 3, Reid, Chestnut, Zsilavecz, Betley, Devlin). Assists: Juniata 17 (McConnell 7); Moravian 12 (Clemente 4). Rebounds: Juniata 22 (Byer, Jasiota 5); Moravian 43 (Devlin 9).

Records: Juniata (6-9); Moravian (4-11).

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.