(Posted February 5, 2005)

Moravian 92, Juniata 63

Bethlehem, Pa. - A 50-point second half from the home team was too much for the Juniata College men's basketball team to overcome as the Eagles dropped a 92-63 decision to Moravian College in Bethlehem Saturday afternoon. The Eagles are now 8-13 on the season and 3-7 in conference play, while the Greyhounds improved to 7-13 overall and 5-4 in conference.

Juniata hit 41-percent of its shots from the field, but saw the Greyhounds scorch the net at a 50-percent clip. The home team also made a living at the foul line as they hit 26-of-29 from the charity stripe. Moravian's Brandon Zaleski scored a game-high 29 points and was 17-of-18 from the foul line.

Juniata was right in the game for most of the first half, as a lay-up for Neil Holloway (Tussey Mountain/Saxton) put Juniata in front 23-21 with 8:30 left in the first stanza. Moravian responded with an 11-0 run as Steve Wenderfer scored nine points during the stretch to give the home team a nine-point lead. Chris Jasiota (Oil City/Oil City) halted the run with a three-point play. Jasiota and Zaleski then traded scores over the final five minutes with Zaleski knocking down a jumper with 58 seconds remaining to send Juniata into the locker room trailing by 10.

Juniata's Aaron Chamberlain (Tussey Mountain/Wood) opened the half with a lay-up and a three to pull the Eagles within seven. A Moravian answer pushed the lead back into double figures, only to see Juniata's Travis Boyd (Juniata Valley/Barree) can back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to nine with 14:38 remaining.

That was as close as Juniata got as the Greyhounds countered with a 13-1 run over the next three minutes, capped by a four-point play from Moravian's Joe Depasquale. Moravian was 16-of-31 from the field in the second half as they pulled away for the win.

Jasiota finished with a team-high 12 points for Juniata, while Chamberlain was also in double figures with 10. Tommy McConnell (Bishop Guilfoyle/Altoona) passed out five assists to pace Juniata, while three Eagles finished with three rebounds.

Along with Zaleski's 29 points, Zach Zsilavecz and Wenderfer added 12 and 10 points respectively for the Greyhounds. Zaleski finished with a game-high seven rebounds, with Ryan Miller adding five assists.

Juniata will look to snap a three-game losing skid when the Eagles host Commonwealth foe Elizabethtown in Huntingdon Tuesday night.

JUNIATA (63): Byer 2 0-0 4, Boyd 2 0-1 6, Chamberlain 4 0-0 10, McConnell 3 1-1 7, Hager 2 0-0 6, Ferko 0 0-0 0, Jasiota 4 4-5 12, Opitz 0 0-0 0, LaPrad 0 0-0 0, Price 1 0-0 2, Littleton 0 0-0 0, Holencik 2 1-2 5, Holloway 1 2-2 4, Bull 0 0-0 0, Cannon 2 2-3 7. Totals - 23 10-14 63

MORAVIAN (92): Zsilavecz 5 0-0 12, Wenderfer 4 1-3 10, Zaleski 6 17-18 29, Clemente 3 0-0 7, Miller 2 3-3 8, Jones 1 0-0 2, Hatfield 0 0-0 0, Bays 1 0-0 2, Earley 1 0-0 2, Depasquale 1 1-1 4, Reid 3 0-0 8, Chestnut 0 0-0 0, Franzyshen 1 2-2 4, Betley 0 0-0 0, Devlin 1 2-2 4, Tripucka 0 0-0 0, Whitman 0 0-0 0, Buynovsky 0 0-0 0. Totals - 29 26-29 92

Halftime: Moravian 42-32. 3-point goals: Juniata 7 (Boyd 2, Chamberlain 2, Hager 2, Cannon); Moravian 8 (Zsilavecz 2, Reid 2, Wenderfer, Clemente, Miller, Depasquale). Assists: Juniata 13 (McConnell 5); Moravian 20 (Miller 5). Rebounds: Juniata 28 (Chamberlain, Jasiota, Cannon 3); Moravian 37 (Zaleski 7).
Records: Juniata (8-13); Moravian (7-13).

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