Offense Disappears After Gophers Get Back in Game

HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Goucher was back in tonight's Landmark Conference game against Juniata, having knocked what had been as much as a 19-point deficit down to single digits. And with more than nine minutes on the clock, there was still plenty of time remaining for the Gophers to complete their comeback and pick up their second 2014-15 victory over the Eagles.

The rally which appeared so promising never came close to fruition, however. Goucher was able to produce only three points over the final nine minutes and came up totally empty on 11 of its final 12 possessions of the contest as Juniata avoided being swept by head coach Leonard Trevino's squad with a convincing 75-55 triumph.

The closest the Gophers, who trailed 46-27 at hallftime, were able to get at any point in the second half was when Tucker Canary (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair) nailed shots from 3-point range on back-to-back possessions to make the score 57-52 with 9:28 left to play.

Juniata retaliated by scoring the game's next five points, regaining a 10-point advantage on a 3-point field goal by Seth Brewer with 7:11 remaining. Chris Outing (New Windsor, N.Y./James I. O'Neill) got two of those points back for Goucher at the 6:42 mark when he was fouled and made two free throws to change the score to 62-54, in favor of the home team.

Before the Gophers (3-16, 2-8 Landmark) tallied their next point, though, the Eagles essentially ended any suspense which remained by scoring 13 consecutive points, which put them up 75-54 with less than a minute left to play. Alex Noble (Clinton, Md./Surrattsville) closed out the scoring by making a free throw that accounted for Goucher's first point in more than six minutes.

The Eagles (9-10, 3-7 Landmark), who were 17-for-28 from the field (.607) in the first half, owned a 12-3 lead just 4:30 into the contest on the way to their 19-point cushion at the break.

Canary and Outing were the top two scorers for Goucher. Canary finished with 16 points, that included him making four of the 10 shots he launched from behind the 3-point stripe. Outing furnished the Gophers with 11 points and was one of three players in the game who ended up with eight rebounds.

By a margin of one point, Marcus Lee beat out Seth Brewer for scoring honors for Juniata. Lee made seven field goals and two free throws to end up with 16 points. Brewer contributed 15 points to the win.

Goucher, which has not tasted victory since its 58-53 triumph over Juniata back on Jan. 6, will try to being an end to its seven-game losing streak when it welcomes the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy to the Decker Sports & Recreation Center this Saturday at 7 p.m.