HUNTINGDON, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team fell to Juniata College, 76-65, on the road in Landmark Conference action Saturday afternoon.
The Greyhounds, now 11-6 overall and 3-3 in Landmark Conference play, had two players in double figures with junior forward Oneil Holder netting a team-high 13 points to go with six rebounds and three assists. Sophomore guard Elijah Davis added 10 points with two boards and a pair of blocked shots while junior guard Nicholas Casazza and senior guard Matt Cardonne each tossed in a trio of three-pointers for nine points with Casazza adding three rebounds.
Freshman guard Keith Otto matched his career high with eight points while freshman guard Matt O'Connor added five points and three steals while starting for the second time in his collegiate career. Junior guard Will Brazukas contributed five assists, four points, two steals and a pair of rebounds while sophomore forward Addis Ralph had four points and two boards. Sophomore guard Mike Martino added three points and three assists while senior forward Khalil Rhett pulled down five rebounds.
The Hounds struggled shooting the ball in the game, making just 22-of-61 field goals attempts and 12-of-36 three-pointers while the Eagles connected on 54 percent of their shot attempts. Moravian's pressure defense did force Juniata into 18 turnovers in the contest.
The Eagles scored the first 14 points of the afternoon before Cardonne connected on a three-pointer with 14:26 to play in the first half. The Blue and Grey slowly closed the gap and trailed by just five points, 22-17, after a three-pointer by Davis with 7:44 before the intermission. However, Juniata scored 16 of the next 18 points to open up a 38-19 lead on the Greyhounds before heading to the locker room with a 41-29 edge after 20 minutes of action.
Baskets from Brazukas and Davis and a three-pointer by O'Conner had Moravian down by seven points, 43-36, just 1:41 into the second half, and Holder cut the Greyhounds' deficit down to five points, 48-43, with 11:34 still to play. That would be as close as Moravian would get as Juniata eventually pushed the lead to 17 points with 2:56 remaining.
The Hounds will continue their four-game road trip with a Landmark Conference contest at Goucher College on Wednesday, January 24 with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. in Towson, Maryland.
