Owings Mills, MD - Messiah College dropped a pivotal road contest on Wednesday night, falling to Stevenson University by the score of 69-64. The Mustangs broke a 57-57 tie late in the game to earn the win, as they moved to 7-8 in the Commonwealth Conference.

The loss for the Falcons drops them to 8-7 in the league, as they failed to take advantage of losses by both Arcadia and Lycoming earlier in the evening. With all three teams losing on Wednesday, they remain tied for third place (8-7) in the Commonwealth. Alvernia (12-3) and Albright (11-4) remain first and second in the conference, respectively.
 
"This is a tough loss for us, there's no way around that," Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt said. "To get a win tonight would have put us in a good spot, but all we can do now is think about the next game. We'll prepare as well as we can."
 
With the game tied at 57-57 and les than six minutes to play, the Mustangs found Alfonso Hawkins down court for a contested score in transition. The Falcons quickly responded, as Derek Mosley nailed a three-pointer from the left wing for a one-point lead.
 
But on their next possession, the Mustangs would take the lead for good. Tyson Jacobs drove into the lane to set up a score by Brett Burrier, with the forward being fouled on the shot. With just 2:20 left on the clock, the forward completed the three-point play for a 62-60 lead. After a driving layup by Brad Bolen went off the rim, Messiah would see Hawkins extend the Stevenson lead with a mid-range jumper.
 
After Messiah again came up empty on the offensive end, Hawkins sealed the game with a driving score on the right side with just 0:26 left to play. Hawkins' six points in the final minutes accounted for half of his total (12)—all of which he scored in the second-half.
 
A bucket by Messiah and three Stevenson free-throws in the final seconds completed the 69-64 decision.
 
Messiah and Stevenson played a tight game from start to finish, with neither team leading by more than four points from halftime to the final minute. The Falcons led 30-29 at the break, as Taylor Groff's dozen points in the first-half made up for Messiah's 32.3% shooting performance.
 
After Stevenson took a 41-39 lead with 15:39 left, Messiah ran off six-straight points to take a four-point lead. But a score at the rim by Christian Roberts (22 points) tied the game at 49-49 with just over nine minutes left. A few minutes later, Bolen did the game-tying honors with a layup to knot the game at 57-57.
 
"Our guys did make plays tonight, which was a positive for us," Van Pelt said. "But Stevenson made plays, too, and we never were able to pull ahead. We needed to better on our defensive end."
 
Stevenson shot 50% from the field (13-25) in the second-half, supporting Van Pelt's analysis. They shot 4-6 from the field after the aforementioned 57-57 tie with 5:23 left.
 
Groff finished with 19 points for Messiah, with Bolen adding 15 points on 7-20 shooting from the field. Mosley scored 11 points for the Falcons. Messiah managed just 28 rebounds compared to 36 boards for Stevenson, with the Mustangs outscoring the Falcons 14-5 in second-chance points.
 
Burrier joined Hawkins and Roberts in double-digit scoring, finishing with 13 points. Now 7-8 in the league, Stevenson is tied with Hood for sixth-place and currently on the outside of the five-team conference tournament. Each conference team has three games left to play.
 
The Falcons will hope for another chance to move forward in the standings on Saturday when they host Lebanon Valley. The Falcons and Dutchmen will tip-off at 7:00 p.m.
 
"With three games to play, we control a bit of our own destiny," Van Pelt said, commenting on the Falcons' upcoming schedule. "We need to focus on one game at a time, so we'll need to put tonight behind us and focus on Lebanon Valley.
 
"Although losing isn't fun, this is life in our conference," he continued. "Every game is a battle, and we need to be excited to leave it all on the court each night."