HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Host Juniata scored the game-winning basket with :03 left Tuesday as the Eagles rallied from a double-digit deficit to defeat Nazareth in men's basketball, 57-56. The defeat came in the championship game of the Doc Greene Tournament. Nazareth reached the final by beating Elizabethtown, 84-65, Monday.
Nazareth dropped to 5-3 overall, while Juniata improved to 8-1. Senior
Jack Giles scored 16 points to lead Nazareth and was named to the all-tournament team along with senior
Brad Ford, who added 13 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman
Tomer Nesher came off the bench to score a career-high 11.
Tournament MVP Jeremy Hays led all scorers with 17 points and scored the game-winning basket on a drive through the lane with :03 left. Nazareth had taken a 56-55 lead on a basket by Giles with :32 left.
The Golden Flyers led most of the way and were ahead by as many as 12 points, 45-33, with as little as 8:39 to play following a basket by Nesher. Juniata chipped away at Nazareth's lead and closed to within two points, 52-50, on a basket by Lucas Mellott with 2:03 to go. Giles scored for Nazareth to extend the lead back to four, 54-50, but the Eagles responded with two free throws by Brian Scholly and a three-pointer by Kevin Stapleton to take a one-point lead, 55-54, with :53 left.
Void of timeouts, Nazareth got the go-ahead basket from Giles, but left Juniata with a half a minute to make a play. Hays stepped up for the Eagles as he hit a runner in the lane that rolled around the rim before falling through for the winning points. Nazareth had one last chance, but a desperation shot by Brad Ford from about 40 feet away was off the mark as time expired.
Juniata jumped out in front early to an 8-2 lead, before Nazareth rallied to score 11 straight points to go up 13-8. The Golden Flyers were ahead the rest of the half as they eventually settled for a 29-21 lead at the break. Giles scored 10 of his points in the first 20 minutes and benefitted by going 6-for-6 from the foul line. Sophomore
Mitch Ford, who scored a career-high 27 points Monday, was limited to just three first-half minutes after picking up two fouls. He finished with just one point in nine minutes of action.
Nazareth went 18 for 53 (34 percent) from the field and 17 for 22 from the free-throw line (77.3 percent). In addition to Hays' 17 points, Scholly added 14 for Juniata.
The Golden Flyers are off until Jan. 3 when they open their Empire 8 Conference schedule with a home game against Elmira at 6 p.m.