Grantham, PA — Just when the Messiah College men's basketball team was beginning to covet the role of rally-men, junior guard
Drew Sneeringer had to go and mess it all up.
The scrappy shooter from Hanover, Pennsylvania buried three straight three-point baskets midway through the first half in Thursday night's showdown with Eastern University, helping turn a 15-11 Messiah lead into a 24-11 difference with 10:48 remaining before the intermission. The end result was a 76-60 win for the Falcons, as Eastern would get no closer than six points — occurring just once — for the rest of the game.
Thursday's final result was Messiah's fourth straight victory, though coming under vastly different circumstances from the team's previous three wins: The Falcons had trailed their last three opponents at halftime by an average of 5.7 points, shooting just 28 of 74 from the field (37.8 percent) in first periods. That all changed Thursday, as Messiah (9-4, 0-0) opened the game knocking in 15 of 28 first-half attempts (53.6 percent), including a seven of 12 effort (58.3 percent) from long range.
That stat was bolstered by Sneeringer's four-of-five performance from deep, with all attempts coming in the first half of play.
“We finally got off to a good start,” said Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt, somewhat tongue in cheek. “Drew really gave us a jump start off the bench. (Going seven of 12 from three in the first half), that was really the difference. Eastern is kind of spinning right now, and when we got that lead early it really took a lot out of them. We executed fairly well tonight and we were able to take advantage by making some open shots.”
Playing at home for the first time in over a month — the Falcons' last home game was a 76-66 loss to Juniata College on Dec. 8 — Messiah looked like an exceptionally improved team. A game-opening three pointer from Eastern's Brent Williams provided the Eagles with their only lead of the game, as layups from sophomore Josh Curtin and senior Darryl Brown quickly gave Messiah a 4-3 lead.
The Falcons permanently changed the complexion of the game at the first half's 12:50 mark, as sophomore Jamie Yoder buried a three from the left wing to turn a 12-11 lead into a 15-11 ballgame. It was then that Sneeringer went off, drilling his triad of threes in a span of 1:07.
As the Brubaker Auditorium crowd grew collectively louder with each Sneeringer long ball, it was his third of the series that perhaps spelled symbolic doom for Eastern (3-7, 0-2): Firing from the top of the key, Sneeringer's shot hit the front rim, bounced off the top of the glass and somehow lingered downward and through the net, earning a chuckle from the shooter himself.
It was a fortuitous end to a 12 to nothing Messiah run and a plausible conclusion for Sneeringer, who has now gone nine of 10 from three-point land in the Falcons' last three games.
“Certain teams you match up well against, and I think Eastern is just one of those teams for us,” Van Pelt said. “We scout our opponents very hard and try to prepare very well, and tonight we really executed our game plan.”
Messiah captured a 43-32 lead at halftime, and quickly extended to a 57-37 advantage just five and a half minutes into the second period. A three pointer from freshman Josh Hartman gave the Falcons their largest lead of the game — a 73-46 difference with 6:51 to play — while Van Pelt utilized his bench liberally in the game's final eight minutes.
The Falcons connected on 13 of 24 second-half shots (54.2 percent) en route to hitting on 53.8 percent from the field overall, equalling the team's second-highest field goal percentage of the season to date.
Sneeringer led the way with 16 points — he added a pair of tear drops to go with his four threes — while Curtin and Brown each scored 13. Senior John Boyd chipped in 12 points, while Brown collected a game-high eight boards. Junior Jason Miller dished out a game-best six assists in 27 minutes of work.
“I think it's just a matter of us maturing as a team,” Van Pelt said of his squad's winning streak. “We talked about that from the beginning of the year. We want to keep getting better and better, and we want to stay healthy. Our sophomores are now juniors, and a team that was inexperienced just a while ago now has some experience. We're getting comfortable with one another on the floor, and that has paid dividends. We've got a big one coming up Saturday, and we're looking forward to it.”
Messiah will host York College Saturday night, capping a three-game week in the process. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Brubaker Auditorium.
