Reading, PA- Déjà vu all over again—and not the good kind.
 
Just four days after Messiah College fell into a deep hole against Alvernia University and could not complete a furious comeback, history repeated itself as the Falcons again failed to overcome a large deficit and lost. Messiah trimmed a 18-point second-half deficit all the way down to a single point, 70-69, before Alvernia scored 11 of the game's final 18 points to win 81-77.
 
Unfortunately for Messiah, the stakes were even higher this time around as they were eliminated from the Commonwealth Tournament. They fell to 19-6 and now hold onto a slim chance of being selected for the upcoming NCAA Championships Tournament.
 
Brad Bolen led the Falcons with 23 points and Zac Hoy added 21 points, but Messiah shot just 33.3% from the field in the first-half to fall behind 36-25. They dropped even further behind in the second-half and trailed by 17 points (61-44) with just 11:48 to play. Desperate to start making shots, the Falcons received a boost from behind the arc. Christyan DeVan and Taylor Groff hit back-to-back three-pointers to start a 17-4 run that included eight points from Brad Bolen; the final nine points of that run were scored on three's by Bolen (two) and Hoy.
 
After a bucket from Alvernia, Groff hit another three-pointer—one of eight second-half three's by Messiah—to bring the Falcons within 67-54 with under five minutes to play. Minutes later Hoy was fouled after grabbing a defensive rebound off a missed layup from Brian Parker, and he hit two free-throws to make it a one-point game, 70-69.
 
As impressive as their rally was, it was not enough. Harrison Deyo responded with perhaps the biggest bucket of the night, driving from 25 feet out to beat the shot clock and put Alvernia back up 72-69. After a missed three by Bolen Alvernia hit two free-throws to push their lead to five points.
 
With 1:13 to play Messiah was still within one possession, 74-71, but Brad Bolen's driving layup rolled off the rim. The rebound bounced to Groff but his short jumper also missed as Alvernia corralled the loose ball. Looking to foul David Fernandez was whistled for a flagrant foul—a huge call considering the score and time. Deyo missed both free-throws but Alvernia got the ball back and Lamont Clark soon made good on two freebies of his own to push the lead to 76-71.
 
Messiah went down 78-71 before Hoy and Brad Bolen both traded Crusader free-throws with three-pointers in the final seconds. Two shots from the charity stripe by Charles Cooper with two seconds remaining sealed the win.
 
The loss surely leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of the Falcons, as they once held a 14-1 record before going just 5-5 over their last 10 games. All six of their losses came to conference opponents.
 
Groff added 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, and hit 4-8 attempts from three. David Fernandez scored just five points on 1-4 shooting and was unable to get going for the Falcons offensively.
 
Parker and Cooper each scored 18 points to lead six double-digit scorers for Alvernia. Cooper's 18 points were off the bench and helped Alvernia outscore Messiah 20-4 in that category. With the win the Crusaders will now prepare to face Stevenson University on Saturday, Mar. 1 in the Commonwealth Championship.
 
The Falcons, meanwhile, will have to wait for this weekend's NCAA bracket selection to see if they can grab an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships Tournament. While the bid is not impossible to envision, they are only ranked sixth in the Mid-Atlantic Region with both Stevenson (fifth) and Alvernia (seventh) in the mix.