The Elizabethtown College Blue Jays took on the Juniata College Eagles at home on Tuesday for their second game against the Landmark Conference opponent. In their last matchup, Etown took care of business on the road, beating the Eagles by eight with a score of 79-71. Juniata came into the game searching for their first win of the season, while Etown wanted to put together a winning streak after their close victory against Lycoming University the previous Saturday, Jan. 25.
In the first half, the Blue Jays got off to a hot start, beginning with an 11-2 run in the first five minutes, with three three-pointers creating the gap. Good defense and a few turnovers kept both sides close, with Etown maintaining the lead through the first ten minutes of play.
After the initial double-digit lead for the Blue Jays, Juniata began clawing back, shrinking the lead to three points at the half. In the second half, the Eagles came out of the locker room playing even better than before, taking the lead from Etown and securing an 8-2 run to begin the half. However, the Blue Jays weren’t done yet as the lead was brought down to a tie and flipped, fueled by junior guard Ben Stanton who hit two three-pointers to increase the lead to nine.
Juniata kept the game within reach, with a run bringing the Etown lead down to two as a technical foul assessed to senior forward Malik Hudges turned the momentum of the game around for the Eagles. Junior guard Austin Finarelli was held to limited points in the first half, but he got into a hot shooting streak in the final minutes of the game, with 10 points as the lead expanded to double digits and won the game for the Blue Jays with a final score of 80-63.
Finarelli finished the game with another 20-point game on 47% shooting from the floor and 50% from three-pointers. Stanton played key minutes off the bench with 18 points on 6-11 shooting all from three-pointers. Junior guard Reese Zeigler had a good game, putting together 14 points on 80% shooting from the floor. Junior guard EJ Finney was doing everything for Etown, putting up eight points, grabbing nine rebounds, dishing out eight assists and swiping five steals for the Blue Jays.
Juniata’s first-year forward Jayden Bilger put together a 20-point, six rebound game, leading the Eagles in their offensive surges throughout the game. Etown picked up another win in the Landmark Conference and moved to 10-11 on the season. The Blue Jays round out their season with Landmark games, with their next home game being the matchup against Goucher on Feb. 12 and the senior day matchup against Scranton University on Feb. 22.
