Grantham, PA - Down by seven points with just over thirteen minutes to play, Messiah College finally decided to turn it on against the rival Blue Jays of Elizabethtown. The result was a 31-14 run to finish the game, giving the Falcons a 62-52 win and their seventh win in the Commonwealth Conference.
Messiah trailed the Blue Jays 38-31 after layup by Etown's Will Schlosser with 13:27, but went ahead a few minutes later on three-pointer by Scott Bolen. The freshman's bucket put Messiah ahead 42-41 and, after Etown quickly responded, the Falcons went in front for good on a pair of free-throws from Tyler Yeaton.
"We had a bit of trouble at the start of the second-half, and we needed to find a spark," Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt said. "We made some big plays in that stretch to get the lead back, and we stayed tough the rest of the way."
Yeaton's pair of free-throws were two of seven total points over his eleven minutes-- his most time on the floor since late November.
"Tyler played well tonight, he gave us a lift," Van Pelt said. "He played well (the last time we played Etown), so we wanted to see how he did again tonight. He made a difference for us out there."
Though Yeaton's free-throws gave Messiah a lead that would not be turned over, the game was tight until the final minute. Ahead by just a single point, 46-45, with 6:23 to play, Scott Bolen completed a big three-point play to extend the Falcons' advantage. The score came after the Falcons nearly turned the ball over near mid-court, with Bolen regaining possession and driving to the rim for the three-point-play.
Two more free-throws from Yeaton increased the Messiah lead to six points, though Etown trimmed their deficit to 52-49 with 3:18 to play. Scott Bolen responded for Messiah with a driving layup from the right side, finishing with a finger roll at the rim to put the Falcons in front 54-49. Less than a minute later, Taylor Groff put the game away with a three-point-play on an offensive rebound and put-back.
"I think those last few minutes said a lot about our team," Van Pelt said. "We needed to close the game out and not allow Etown to hang around. We did just that."
Another three-point-play for Messiah-- this one by Brad Bolen-- put Messiah up by thirteen points with just over thirty seconds remaining as the the Falcons went on to the 10-point win.
The second-half run for Messiah came after the team's entered the halftime tied at 28-28. For most of the first-half-- and even throughout the second-half-- the Falcons seemed challenged by the Blue Jays' various defensive schemes. When in man-to-man defense, the Blue Jays also played with extended pressure which proved to keep Messiah off balance.
The two teams exchanged the lead four times in the first-half, as neither team managed to create much space on the scoreboard. A physical tone was also set early, as the teams would eventually combined for forty-three fouls on the night.
For Messiah, Zac Hoy and Christyan DeVan would account for nine of those fouls, with DeVan eventually fouling out with just over three minutes left in the game. Thankfully for Van Pelt and the Falcons, Dan Mosley and Scott Bolen provided effective minutes.
"I thought Dan and Scott contributed in meaningful ways tonight," Van Pelt said, reflecting on the five-for-ten shooting and thirteen points between them. "Dan was especially good over his twenty-eight minutes-- he handled the ball well against Etown's pressure."
Hoy still managed to lead the Falcons with 14 points, though he played just twenty-three minutes. Brad Bolen added 11 points, with Groff scoring nine points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.
The win for Messiah moves them to 11-6 overall, with their 7-4 Commonwealth record moving them into sole possession of third place. Lycoming and Arcadia had entered the evening tied with Messiah, but both lost on Wednesday to fall to 6-5 in the league.
Etown (5-12, 3-8) was led by the 11 points of Schlosser, with Ben Cable and Andrew Mantz each scoring 10 points, respectively.
Messiah returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 26, when they travel to Albright College for a match-up with the second-place Lions.