By Bryn Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter

Grantham, PA - Commonwealth top-seed Messiah College survived an overtime battle with Albright College in the conference semifinals on Wednesday, winning by a 70-65 score to advance to the championshipi game on Saturday, Feburary 25.

The Falcons were able to earn the victory in overtime after seeing a late 59-56 lead in regulation turn into a 60-60 tie.
    
"It was just a tough game," said Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt. "They're an extremely good team and they've been playing very well, giving teams in our league fits. We knew it was going to be tough. I thought it might come down to free throw shooting and our ability to make shots, and we did that at the end."
    
The Falcons started off slow, trailing 4-0 and then 7-3 after a couple of minutes of play, but rallied to take a 12-11 lead eight minutes into the game on a layup by sophomore David Fernandez.
    
They increased their lead to 28-18 late in the first half, but Albright scored six in a row to pull within four. The Falcons took a 32-24 lead with two minutes left in the half but Albright used another streak of six points in a row, cutting the Falcons lead to 32-30 at halftime.
    
The second half featured competitive basketball from both playoff teams. Although the first 11 minutes of the second half featured six lead changes, neither team led by more than four points, and the score stood at 51-51 with 8:54 left in the game.
    
In a stalemate at the point, Christyan DeVan sunk a three-pointer with 5:55 left. Albright rallied to tie the game at 56 with 3:11 left, but junior Derek Mosley hit a deep three-pointer with 1:56 remaining to give Messiah a 59-56 lead.
    
Albright's Dave Singleton hit a jumper with exactly 1:00 left, cutting the lead to 59-58. After Messiah freshman Zac Hoy made one of two free throws with 22 seconds left, giving Messiah a two-point lead, Singleton tied the game on another jumper-- this one tied the game at 60-60 with 11 seconds remaining.
    
A last-second shot attempt from Messiah was partially blocked, and the two teams headed into overtime, the sixth such game for the Falcons this season.
    
Heading into the extra session, Van Pelt knew the Falcons' defense, not offense, would have to win the game.
    
"It was going to come down to defensive stops," he said. "We were struggling on offense and I didn't feel like we were in a very good flow. David (Fernandez) was just making plays. That's pretty much what we had tonight, individuals making plays."
    
The Falcons took the first of either team in the overtime period on a three-pointer from Fernandez at the 3:43 mark. Albright's Derek Hall hit a layup with 2:11 remaining, but Fernandez hit two big free throws at the two-minute mark to regain the three-point advantage.
    
Senior Trey Ritzman added a layup with 1:13 left, and Fernandez hit another foul shot with 47 seconds left, giving Messiah a big 68-62 lead in the game's final stretch.
    
Albright's Sam Marrella hit a three with 19 seconds left to cut the score to 68-65 but junior Derek Mosley hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to ice the victory for Messiah.
    
For the Falcons, Fernandez led the team with 25 points on a phenomenal 10-14 shooting. He also grabbed five rebounds to go with three assists, three steals, and two blocks.
    
Ritzman scored a season-high 15 points, on 6-11 shooting, including three early shots from downtown. He played 35 minutes and did not commit a turnover.
    
"Trey just played aggressively," said Van Pelt. "We didn't necessarily plan for him to have to carry such a heavy load, but stepped up and performed. . He played really well."
    
DeVan led the team with 40 minutes (of a possible 45), scoring a season-high seven points. Senior Jeremiah Runkle and sophomore Taylor Groff each scored six points, and Mosley and sophomore Brad Bolen scored five points apiece.
    
For Albright, four players topped the double-digit mark: Dave Singleton, Derek Hall, Sam Marrella, and Pedro Perez with 17, 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively. Albright shot 26-52 (50%) from the floor and won the rebounding battle, 36-32, over the Falcons.
    
"They've got two or three players that are extremely tough," Van Pelt said. "Singleton and Hall are two guys who are especially talented, and you've got to have guys who can play great defense on them.

"We really worked hard defensively in preparation for these guys," Van Pelt added. "We didn't shoot the ball extremely well and we gave up 50% shooting, and that's with us emphasizing the defense. That kind of tells you about how tough they are."
    
The victory puts the Falcons in the Commonwealth Conference championship game, which will be played against third-seeded Lycoming College on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The Falcons are seeking their first Commonwealth Championship since the 2005-06 season, which was the first in program history.