ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Elizabethtown men's basketball held Messiah to 18 second-half points as it recovered from a 10-point deficit to force overtime in Saturday's Commonwealth Conference rivalry game at Thompson Gymnasium. But, the Falcons nearly matched their second-half total with 16 in OT to pull out a 71-64 victory over the Blue Jays.

Tommy James deflected Zac Hoy's inbounds pass to Evan Hathaway with 10.1 seconds left in regulation, setting up two looks for the Blue Jays (4-4, 1-2 CC) to win the game. Joe Bodnar's 3-pointer from the left corner hit back iron and Phil Wenger's last-second heave was also too strong, sending the teams to an extra five-minute period tied at 55.

Both sides failed to take control of the game down the stretch. Elizabethtown's last basket in regulation came on a Ryan Borzager three with 4:55 to go. Taylor Groff and Christyan DeVan had the only buckets for Messiah (7-0, 3-0 CC) over the final five minutes. LeVan's layup that tied the game at 55 with 3:23 left was the only bucket by either team over the final 4:35.

The Falcons hit just six baskets in the second half, their lowest scoring period as a team –by 12 points– this season, but made up for it with a 4-of-6 performance in overtime. Messiah also redeemed itself at the foul line, nailing 8-of-10 in OT after watching its percentage crack with six misses on nine attempts in the last 20 minutes of regulation.

E-town's leading scorer, Tyler Simpkiss, had his third big game in a row, scoring 21. Simpkiss' final two points came on the first shot of overtime as he gave the Blue Jays a 57-55 lead. But the junior, who is averaging 23.3 points per game over his last three, could only watch his teammates fight for the win after picking up his fifth foul with 3:42 left in OT.

Brad Bolen and David Fernandez each hit a pair of free throws early in overtime to put Messiah up 59-57. The score remained that way into the final three minutes, as E-town came up empty on three straight possessions.

An unfortunate turn of events would put the game almost out of reach for the Jays on Messiah's next trip down the floor. Scott Bolen's outlet pass hit a streaking Fernandez for a layup and the foul. E-town's Andrew Mantz appeared to make contact with Fernandez's upper arm, but the referee closest to the play signaled an intentional foul.

Fernandez would make both of his additional free throws and Hoy found Brad Bolen on the right baseline for a quick jumper with the extra possession to increase the Falcons' lead to 65-57 with 2:40 to go.

Simpkiss hit all but one of his nine shots and canned three from 3-point range before fouling out. Bodnar hit a pair of threes, scored 10 points and registered five rebounds. Borzager came off the bench to score eight points and Matt Ziegler did the same in grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.

Brad Bolen's 22 points led all scorers Saturday. The Messiah senior was 6-of-6 at the line and also hit a game-high four shots from beyond the arc. Taylor Groff's double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Fernandez's 15 points (11-of-17 at the foul line) aided Bolen.

Both Elizabethtown and Messiah suffered their lowest scoring outputs of the season.

E-town, ranked 28th in the country in 3-pointers made coming into the week, hit nine more Saturday, but needed 32 attempts to do it. Hathaway hit two of his three shots from deep in scoring six points to help the Jays' reserves outscore Messiah's 20-9. Elizabethtown held a 19-10 advantage on points off turnovers in a game that saw nine lead changes.

The Blue Jays will not play again until Monday, Dec. 16, against Nazareth (N.Y.) in the first round of the Doc Greene Memorial Tournament at Juniata College. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.