Arlington, VA — The Messiah College men's basketball team utilized quality second-half basketball in winning this weekend's Marymount University Comcast Challenge Championship, defeating Immaculata University by a 66-61 score Friday afternoon and knocking off the host Saints 73-63 Saturday night.
Messiah (7-4, 0-0) knocked in 15 of 27 second-half shots (55.6 percent) against Immaculata and scorched the nets for a 16 of 24 (66.7 percent) second-half performance against Marymount, turning a pair of possible defeats into impressive wins in a hostile environment.
The Falcons needed such late heroics to advance past the Mighty Macs, as the squad made just nine of 27 first-half attempts (33.3 percent) in trailing by a 28-21 halftime score Friday night. Compounding issues was a zero for eight effort from three-point land and a three for eight performance from the charity stripe (37.5 percent).
Things changed drastically following the intermission, however, as Messiah slowly began to chip away at the deficit with improved offensive efficiency. A 37-26 Immaculata lead with 16:51 to play was sliced to just a 37-33 difference following a long ball from junior Drew Sneeringer and a pair of layups from sophomores Kyle Snyder and Jamie Yoder, but the Mighty Macs would regain an eight-point lead — 41-33 — with 12:41 to play.
Three straight unanswered scores from the Falcons turned that spread into just a 41-40 difference, and when senior Darryl Brown connected on a triad of free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt it was Messiah that held a 43-41 lead with 8:38 remaining.
Immaculata (7-3, 3-0) would not go quietly, regaining a 50-49 lead just three minutes later. A power bucket from sophomore Andy Hawk gave the Falcons a 51-50 advantage with just 3:26 to play, while a three pointer from Yoder extended the margin to 54-50 on the squad's next possession.
The Mighty Macs were able to score on their next trip down the floor, but another jumper from Hawk and an ensuing defensive stop would keep the spread down the stretch: An old-fashioned three-point play from Snyder and made free throws kept the difference at no fewer than six points, as a moot Immaculata three pointer at the buzzer turned a 66-58 Messiah lead into the final score.
Hawk and Yoder led the way in the win, scoring 13 points apiece. Snyder notched 10 points while grabbing a career-high 15 boards, including an impressive seven on the offensive end.
The Falcons' second-half prowess would only increase in Saturday's championship against Marymount, as a 11 for 23 first-half shooting clip (47.8 percent) equated to a 28-28 score at halftime thanks largely to a discrepancy in total shots: Marymount (7-4, 2-1) shot just 40.7 percent from the floor (11 for 27) but secured four more opportunities via an eight to four advantage in first-period offensive rebounds.
Like Friday, however, Messiah's improvements following halftime would be too great. After trading baskets with the Saints for the first seven minutes of the second half, the Falcons erupted for an 18 to four run — a surge that spanned five and a half minutes. A putback basket from Brown started the push with 12:16 to play, while the senior iced the outbreak with a traditional three-point play at the 7:30 mark.
When the smoke cleared, Messiah found itself up by an 11-point margin, a lead that would eventually balloon to 15 points in the waning moments.
Brown was named most valuable player of the tournament after his 24-point performance, going 10 of 15 from the floor while dishing out a team-leading five assists as well. Hawk scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, while sophomore Josh Curtin scored 10 points on a perfect five for five effort from the field.
Snyder joined Brown on the all-tournament team, scoring three points and grabbing two rebounds in eight minutes of work in the championship contest.
The win gave Messiah its first tournament title of the season in three attempts, while the Falcons' last six contests have all come in weekend tournament play. The team will finally resume its traditional schedule next, as Messiah will travel to Baptist Bible College on Tuesday evening. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
