FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Senior Bryan Hockaday eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career, but Messiah pulled away in the second half to knock off the Monarch men's basketball team, 73-54, on Tuesday afternoon at the Riddle Center.
 
Hockaday netted his 1,000th point on a layup at the 11:40 mark of the first half, and finished the game with nine points, giving him 1,004 for his career.
 
The Falcons (9-0) outscored Methodist (2-8) 31-12 over the game's final 10:38 to turn a 42-42 contest into a runaway win. After Hockaday knotted up the contest at 42-42, the Monarchs missed eight consecutive shots from the floor and turned the ball over four times while Messiah knocked down 8-of-9 shots from the field and took a 62-42 lead with 4:29 on the clock. Brad Bolen scored 12 points during the game-clinching run. Christian McRae broke MU's cold spell with a three-pointer at the 4:06 mark to make it a 62-45 contest, but that would be as close as the Monarchs would get down the stretch.
 
Methodist, which trailed by seven points at the break (26-19), took a 36-34 lead on Desmond Parker's layup just over six minutes into the second half to cap a 17-8 run to open the stanza. Keith Corbett started the spurt with a pair of layups, and T.J. Gill knocked down three three-pointers during the stretch. However, Christyan DeVan answered Parker's bucket with a triple, and Methodist never led again.
 
Both teams struggled in the first half, combining to hit just 17-of-58 shots from the field (.293), while MU turned the ball over 11 times in the opening 20 minutes. The Falcons used an 11-0 run to turn a 13-8 deficit at the 11:47 mark into a 19-13 advantage by the 7:17 mark en route to a seven-point lead at intermission.
 
For the game, Messiah shot 48.3 percent from the field (28-58), including 63.3 percent (19-30) in the second half. The Falcons also drilled 8-of-13 three-point attempts (.615) and committed just 11 turnovers on the game. Conversely, Methodist finished at 34.3 percent shooting (23-67), including a 28.6 percent mark (6-21) from beyond the arc. The Monarchs held a 41-35 edge on the glass, including an 18-9 advantage on the offensive glass.
 
Gill and Parker led the Monarchs with 12 points apiece, and Corbett finished with 11. Hockaday pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds and added two blocks. Corbett chipped in six rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Parker had seven boards and a pair of steals.
 
For the Falcons, Taylor Groff finished with 20 points, and Bolen had 18. Zac Hoy totaled 10 points and six rebounds. Geoff Boyle had eight points and eight rebounds while Christyan DeVan contributed seven points, four assists and four steals.
 
Methodist returns to the court on Saturday when it hosts LaGrange at 2:00 pm.