Owings Mills, MD – Messiah's bid for a perfect season came to an end on Wednesday night in a thrilling, instant-classic double-overtime loss at Stevenson University, 103-99. The loss dropped the No. 15 Falcons to 12-1 on the season and also into a tie with the Mustangs atop the Commonwealth Conference (6-1).
 
It took all 50 minutes for the Mustangs to hand Messiah their first defeat, with the Falcons sure to lament more than one missed opportunity to escape with a win at the end of the first overtime. With under 30 seconds to play and Messiah leading 89-87 in that first overtime period, David Fernandez missed a hook from inside the right block that would have given the visitors a larger lead. Stevenson quickly rebounded the miss and found Christian Roberts behind the defense for a game-tying layup with 23 seconds left.
 
Messiah executed perfectly on their next possession, but Brad Bolen missed an open layup on the right side that would have won the game with a second to play. The senior guard caught the ball with his back to the basket and, perhaps being unaware of the exact time left, rushed the shot to the rim.
 
The buzzer sounded to send the game into a second overtime, where Stevenson fought back from two quick buckets by Messiah. Justin Kuntz started the charge back with an offensive rebound that led to two free-throws and, after a turnover by the Falcons, Eric Fisher grabbed another offensive rebound for a reverse layup that tied the game.
 
Soon, with less than two minutes to play and the score tied at 94-94, Kuntz gave Stevenson the lead with a score on the right block. The Falcons tried to quickly respond but Fernandez turned the ball over on the right sideline and then fouled Alfonzo Hawkins. He hit his pair of free-throws to put the Mustangs up 98-84, but Scott Bolen hit a contested three-pointer off the dribble to cut the Messiah deficit to 98-97 with 35 seconds left.
 
After two free-throws by Darius Walker put Stevenson back up by three points (100-97) Scott Bolen and Brad Bolen each missed on attempts from deep that would have tied the game. But Taylor Groff secured an offensive rebound and was fouled. He hit two shots from the line to again draw the Falcons to within a point. Now with under five seconds to play, Messiah quickly fouled Fisher to send him to the free-throw line.
 
Fisher missed his first offering but hit the second, giving Stevenson a 101-99 lead. After a timeout, Messiah executed well in the full-court and appeared to have Brad Bolen open down court for a potential game-tying score, but Christyan DeVan's inbound pass sailed wide of Bolen where Kuntz grabbed it from the air. He was quickly fouled and hit two free-throws with under a second to play, sealing the win.
 
Kuntz and Fisher each finished with 23 points with identical 9-15 shooting from the field. The pair also combined for 11 of the Mustangs' 20 offensive rebounds—a statistic that perhaps was the difference as Stevenson outscored Messiah 24-6 on second chance points.
 
Fernandez led the Falcons with a game-high 27 points on 10-17 shooting. Brad Bolen scored 23 points for Messiah, hitting 11-20 shots in a rare appearance off the bench.
 
As a team Messiah shot 52.1% from the field but hit on just 7-25 attempts from three-point range (28%). It was just the fifth time in the past seven games they failed to shoot at 40% from deep. Still, the Falcons had their chances to push their season-opening—and program-record—win streak to 13 games.
 
They fought through a gritty second-half with the Mustangs, overcoming no more than a four-point deficit in the second frame to tie the game in the final minutes. A tip-in by Darius Walker gave Stevenson an 80-77 lead with 1:18 left in regulation and, after a missed shot by the Falcons, Messiah was able to force a turnover to get the ball back. Taylor Groff then brought his team back to life by drilling a high-arcing, game-trying three-pointer from the right side with 26 seconds remaining. Stevenson was unable to hit on their last possession, and the game went into the extra sessions where the Mustangs would prevail.
 
At the start of the game one would probably have predicted a lower scoring contest. Both teams entered near the top of the Commonwealth's scoring defense, but it was all about the offense through from the start. Fernandez got Messiah off from the tip, scoring six-straight points to put his team up 6-0.
 
After trading buckets over the next few possessions, Taylor Groff hit his first bucket (a three-pointer) to give them a 13-7 lead. Moments later, Fernandez reached double-figure scoring with a score in the paint that gave the Falcons a 15-10 advantage. But Stevenson also continued to attack with aggression, taking their first lead at 16-15 off a transition drive by Christian Roberts.
 
With just under 12 minutes to play in the half, Brad Bolen entered for the first time and had an immediate impact. His interception of a pass on the perimeter set up a break away finish at the rim to cut a 23-20 deficit to one point. Then, a few minutes later, his crossover drive on the right side tied the game at 31-31 at the 6:38.
 
As the clock continued to count down both teams kept up the scoring. Aaron DeVan provided a big punch off the bench for Messiah, scoring nine points before the break as the teams entered halftime with Stevenson leading by the narrowest of margins, 46-45.  Hawkins led the Mustangs with 12 points, while Stevenson outperformed their season average from three-point range (33.2%) to hit six of 12 attempts.
 
Stevenson did cool off a bit from downtown but still finished 9-21 for the game.
 
Despite their own shooting woes from deep, Messiah stayed close with Stevenson until the end. A large credit to the Falcons' ability to remain in the game was their bench, which outscored the Mustangs' subs by a 51-16 margin. Brad and Scott Bolen (17) combined for 40 of those points, with Aaron DeVan accounting for the other 11 points. Unfortunately for Messiah, DeVan left the game late in the second-half with an apparent leg injury and did not return.
 
The win for Stevenson pushes their overall record to 11-3. As previously mentioned, the Mustangs and Falcons are now tied atop the conference with 6-1 records.
 
Messiah will look to rebound from the loss and start a new win streak when they host Arcadia University on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 5:00 p.m.