(HUNTINGDON, PA:) Brian Cannon scored 19 points to lead a
balanced Juniata attack Wednesday evening as the host Eagles cruised past Penn
State Altoona 73-47 at the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Center. Juniata improved to 6-4 overall while the Lions fell
to 6-5 and had their school record five game winning streak snapped.
Neither team had tallied a point more than three minutes in, but
the draught was finally ended when Lion forward Quintin Dziabo (Cresson, PA/Penn
Cambria) canned a jumper at the 16:50 mark. Freshman Kirk Peters
(Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) converted a lay up one minute later to
give the visitors a 4-0 advantage before Juniata responded with 12 straight
points.
A Brent Ferko bucket with 4:48 remaining in the first half gave
the Eagles their largest lead of the period at 16 (30-14). Juniata would shoot 44% from the field on the night and hold a
comfortable 31-19 lead at intermission. Juniata then outscored Altoona
42-28 in the second half to set the final.
The Lions struggled from the field, shooting just 37% for the
game and missing all 11 of their three point attempts. Dziabo and Peters
each finished with 14 but no other Altoona player recorded more than six points.
David Thompson and Brent Ferko each added 12, and teammate Kyle
Opitz chipped in 10 for Juniata, which got 15 second chance points on 13
offensive rebounds.
The Eagles, leading 44-27 with 12:19 remaining in the game, used
a 9-0 run capped off by a Kyle Opitz jumper to push the advantage to 26 (53-27)
with under nine minutes to play.
Penn State Altoona returns to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate
Conference play on Saturday, January 12, at Penn State Behrend. Tip time
is 4:00 PM.
CONTACT: Penn
State Altoona Sports Information
Steve Crider -- SID
814-949-5173
sac310@psu.edu
