By Bryn Stewart, GoMessiah.com reporter

Grantham, PA - The Messiah College Falcons continued an impressive 2011-12 campaign with a 68-59 win over Lycoming College in the Commonwealth Conference Championship on Saturday at Messiah College. The conference title is the second in men's basketball program history, and first since 2005-06.

"It's really, really exciting," Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt said. "It's the first time we've had a chance to play for a conference championship at home in front of our home crowd and it gave us a fun environment.

"I think our guys were really focused," Van Pelt added. "You could tell by the way they came out and played."

The game started off slowly, with the teams combining to miss their first eight shots. But with the game tied early at 6-6, the Falcons started scoring in bunches.

Messiah ran off a 8-0 streak, with sophomore Brad Bolen tallying four of the points-- including two on a shot clock-beating pull-up jumper at the top of the key. Lycoming did respond by closing the gap to 14-11, but Messiah ran off another 11 straight points to take a 25-11 lead.

The Falcons would increase their lead to 34-16 behind a flurry of three-pointers. Altogether, the Falcons would hit 6-9 shots from downtown in the first half as they would eventually take a 42-23 lead.
    
"This game was all about defense," Van Pelt said. "Defense was going to win the game and I thought we defended really well in the first half. (Mike) Bradley hit some three's and (Jerald) Williams hit a three at the end of the half, but other than that, I thought we did a really good job defensively."

The Falcons' defense was certainly on display, as they would hold the Warriors to just 38% (22-58) shooting for the game.

"We were really focused on every defensive possession," Van Pelt continued. "Five guys just working their tails off together, never giving up, and trying to get a stop every single possession."
    
When the second half started, Lycoming came out determined to increase their own defensive pressure. The Warriors' offensive attack would benefit, as they would open the frame with six straight points to cut the Messiah lead to 42-29.
    
"There were a couple of lapses early in the second half where we didn't defend as well as I thought we were capable of doing," Van Pelt noted. "I knew (Lycoming) was definitely capable of coming out and scoring. They have an inside threat, they have a perimeter threat, they can pressure you. They have everything they need to make a run and turn a 19-point game around in 20 minutes."
    
But to the Warriors' disappointment, Messiah wouldn't allow such a turnaround to occur. The Falcons would take leads of 48-31 and 53-35-- the latter off another three-pointer from junior Derek Mosley.

The Warriors' last attempt at a comeback brought them to within 53-44, but Messiah would hold them to just two made field goals for a stretch of 7:58 to bring the game under 1:00.
    
After a number of fouls and free throws in the final two minutes, the Falcons held on for a 68-59 win, clinching the first Commonwealth Conference championship in six years.
    
"Our shooting percentage in the first half and our defensive field goal percentage in the first half really made the difference," Van Pelt said. "I think holding them down, not allowing them to make plays, and keeping them off of the foul line was the difference in the game."
    
Sophomore David Fernandez led the Falcons with 16 points, giving him 41 points in the two postseason games, and earning him tournament MVP honors. He also grabbed six boards and dished out four assists.
    
"He's worked extremely hard," Van Pelt said of his sophomore First Team All-Commonwealth performer. "He's all in. There's no question about it. I guarantee that whenever our season ends, he will be back in the gym the very next day. And he's just a very talented kid, so when you add a great work ethic into his talent, it's special.

"He also works well with his teammates," Van Pelt added. "And they feed off him."
    
Mosley also scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. As he has done all season, he hit some of the game's biggest shots: a trio of three-pointers in five attempts from downtown.
    
Senior Trey Ritzman played 30 minutes, and demonstrated continued, consistent, and impressive defense on the perimeter. After scoring 15 points in the semifinal win over Albright, he scored two points, collected two steals, and grabbed five rebounds against Lycoming.

The victory was especially sweet for Ritzman, the lone four-year senior on the team.

"It's an incredible feeling to win the Commonwealth, especially as a senior," he said. "I couldn't ask for a better outcome to what could be my last game in Brubaker."
    
Bolen and freshman Zac Hoy added nine points apiece, with sophomore Taylor Groff scoring eight points. Senior Jeremiah Runkle scored seven points.
    
As a team, Messiah shot 21-44 (47.7 percent), including 16-28 (57.1 percent) in the first half. They shot 19-30 on free throws, just 63.3 percent, but they held Lycoming to only 11 trips to the line. Lycoming shot 58 times, 14 more than Messiah, but connected on just 22 of their shots (37.9 percent).

Lycoming was led in scoring by junior Ihsaan Davis' 15 points.  With the loss, Lycoming falls to 19-8.

Messiah improves to 20-6-- the second that that Van Pelt, also the 2011-12 Commonwealth Coach of the Year, has led the Falcons to 20 wins in a season.
    
The Falcons will wait until Monday at 12:00 p.m. to hear the location and date of their next game, which will be in the first round of the NCAA tournament.