(Posted January 28, 2011)

TOWSON, Md. -- Juniata College's second half comeback bid fell just short of giving the Eagles their first Landmark win at Goucher College, as the Gophers held Juniata men's basketball at bay long enough to post a 61-54 victory on Friday night at the Decker Sports & Rec Center.

After trailing by eight points, 39-31, with 13:11 left in the second half, Juniata chipped away at the Goucher lead to get to within three, 43-40, following freshman Jeremy Hays' (McMechen, W.Va/John Marshall) jumper with 10:09 showing.

Goucher again extended its lead to eight at 50-42 on a Shane Yambor 3-pointer at the 7:50 mark, when the Eagles made another run at the Gophers. Hays drained a three to cut the margin to five points, and, after a bucket by Goucher's Jason Jones, he hit three straight free throws over a 30-second span to bring the Eagles to within four of the Gophers, 52-48.

The Gophers' Marcus Cotton made a pair of jumpers in response to the Eagle threat, jump-starting a 14-point Goucher run that lasted over five minutes.

Juniata freshman Brian Scholly (State College, Pa./State College Area) finally broke the Goucher run with a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in the game.

The two teams battled throughout the first half, trading the lead six times. Juniata had its largest lead of the frame just under four minutes into the game on a Dan Sekulski (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) jumper.

Hays led Juniata offensively with 14 points, with Sekulski and Scholly each logging eight points. Scholly had six rebounds, leading a Juniata side that was out-rebounded 39 to 29, and hit a pair of 3-pointers.

Juniata shot 36.4 percent (20-55) from the floor, its second-lowest field goal percentage this season, and the 20 field goals matches the Eagles' season low. Goucher posted a .440 field goal percentage, including a .520 (13-25) clip in the second half.

Yambor tallied 20 points, mostly behind a 9-of-10 effort at the free-throw line and 3-of-8 shooting from the field. Goucher's Trae Lindsay tacked on 12 points.

Juniata fell to 3-5 in Landmark Conference play, but remained above .500 overall with a 10-9 mark. Goucher improved to 2-6 in the conference, 4-11 overall.

The Eagles return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 29, when it travels to Washington, D.C., to face Catholic University of America. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at the DuFour Center.

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