Grantham, PA – No. 25 Messiah College dropped a game at home for the first time this season, losing 64-60 to Stevenson University in a battle that went down to the final seconds. Christian Roberts was the hero for the Mustangs as he stole possession from Messiah with under 20 seconds to play and then hit two free-throws that proved to win the game.
 
Roberts' steal came in surprising fashion. Messiah, leading 60-59, broke through Stevenson's full-court pressure and had a four-on-one opportunity as they crossed half-court. But David Fernandez's attempted leaping pass over Roberts was intercepted; it appeared as though the Falcons were going to add to their lead and seal the win before the turnover.
 
Now with possession, Roberts attacked down the right side and quickly drove to the rim where he was fouled and sent to the line. Just 30 seconds earlier he missed a pair from the stripe, but this time he nailed both to put Stevenson up 61-60.
 
Again working in the full-court, but now trailing, Messiah got the ball to Fernandez again on the left side. He drove the length of the court before turning the corner to get to the rim, but his shot went off the iron and was rebounded by Stevenson.
 
Stefon McCray hit one of two free-throws to put Stevenson up 62-60 with one second to play, and Messiah was whistled for a dead ball foul on the ensuing inbound to set up two more free-throws for the final score.
 
The loss for Messiah dropped them to 17-4 overall and 11-4 in the Commonwealth. Stevenson owns two of those victories over the Falcons after winning 103-99 in double-overtime in the teams' first match-up last month.
 
Messiah's bid for revenge came close, and even looking promising after they pushed a 32-27 halftime lead to an 38-30 lead with under 18 minutes to play. But Stevenson ran off 10-straight points to take a 40-38 lead, with McCray scoring six in that stretch.
 
From that point to the end the teams' battled through 11 lead changes and nine ties. Brad Bolen put Messiah up 58-57 with a clutch three-pointer with 90 seconds to go, pushing his game-high point total to 27. After two free-throws by Alfonzo Hawkins put Stevenson back up by a point, Zac Hoy hit a pair of his own from the line to again give the Falcons the lead.
 
That would be the lead—60-59—that the Falcons held through Roberts' two missed free-throws to again take the possession that led to the game-changing giveaway.
 
The turnover was one of 17 for Messiah on the night which, combined with just 40% shooting from the field, led to their season-low point total by exactly 10 points.
 
Bolen finished with 27 points and fouled out with less a minute to play. Fernandez added 10 points and five assists, but he turned it over six times. Taylor Groff scored just seven points on a season-low three shots.
 
McCray led the Mustangs with 16 points and six rebounds. Roberts scored 12 points and Hawkins and Colby Giacubeno each tallied 10 points.

Stevenson moved to 14-7 overall and 9-5 in the conference.

Messiah will look to rebound from the loss when they travel to Lebanon Valley College on Saturday, Feb. 15 for a 2:00 tip.