Grantham, PA — For a team playing its third game in five days, Messiah looked anything but tired Monday evening.
The Falcons rattled off their sixth straight victory with an up-and-down, warp-speed 81-67 win over visiting Baruch College, knocking in 34 of 62 shots from the floor (54.8 percent) while outrebounding an athletic Bearcat squad by a 39-30 difference.
Messiah (11-2) did commit a season-high 26 turnovers in the win, but forced 24 errors from Baruch (10-4) as well, shooting the basketball above a 54 percent clip for the third straight game.
“We were very scrappy,” said Mike Miller, Messiah head coach. “I'm just a little bit down because of some of our decisions. We can't turn the ball over like that, regardless of the pace of play. But, we did play extremely hard. Our ball movement was really good, when we didn't throw it to someone wearing a blue shirt.”
Ranked 17th earlier in the day in Monday's D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, Messiah needed a moment to acclimate itself with the speed in which Baruch wanted to play, as the Falcons committed seven turnovers in the game's first four minutes. Baruch stayed close as a result, taking an early 9-7 lead with 15:34 remaining in the first period and trailing by just a 14-11 count with 12:51 to go.
It was at that point that Messiah began to click on both ends of the floor, however, closing the period with two spurts that ultimately proved to be the difference. A drifting three pointer from senior Katie Kalb ignited the first run, helping the Falcons to a 26-14 lead just three minutes later. The Bearcats responded with a 9-1 run over the game's next two and a half minutes to pull within a 27-23 deficit with 7:17 remaining before the intermission, but another long ball — this one from sophomore Angie Rapchinski — sparked a 17-2 run that would close out the half. Kalb followed with back-to-back threes after senior Kristen Groff buried two free throws, making it a 38-25 score with 3:31 to play. A steal and layup from sophomore Michele Schleich was followed by an acrobatic layin from senior Christa Wenrich, and Messiah was cooking. Rapchinski buried a baseline jump shot to close out the period, as the Falcons forced five turnovers and held Baruch to just one of seven shooting in the final 7:17 to take a 44-25 lead at the break.
“Our bench was really good tonight, especially toward the end of the first half,” Miller said. “I thought Baruch tired a little bit during that stretch, and our bench was excellent. Kristen Groff, Angie Rapchinski and Michele Schleich gave us a big boost tonight.”
With a season-high first-half point total already on the board for Messiah, the second half became largely a case of damage control. A quick, 9-4 run from the visitors cut the Falons' lead to 48-37 just 2:15 in, and Baruch trailed by just a 52-43 score following a pair of free throws with 12:34 to play.
A timeout from Miller proved to be efficient, as Messiah went on to make nine of its next 11 shots from the field to again blow things open. Rapchinski buried another three pointer on the team's ensuing possession, followed by a pull-up jumper from Kalb.
The Falcons then went inside to score their next 14 points, getting a pair of layups from senior Ashley Brooks, senior Sal Shani, Rapchinski and Wenrich each. The end result was a 71-49 disparity with 7:22 to play. Baruch would get no closer than 13 points from there in.
Kalb finished with a team-high 20 points on seven of 11 shooting overall and five of seven from deep, while Rapchinski added 17 on seven of 13 shooting. Brooks tallied 16 points while Shani added 12, giving Messiah four double-figure scorers for both the fifth time this season and the fifth time in the last six games.
Rapchinski paced the Falcons' efforts on the glass with seven rebounds. Shani (six) and Kalb (five) aided Messiah's fifth straight game with an overall rebounding advantage.
Baruch's Kalea Davis finished with a game-high 27 points and 12 rebounds.
“I'm absolutely pleased with how we've rebounded the ball in our last several games,” Miller said. “Baruch came in here plus-12 (in rebounding) on the season and averaging 19 offensive rebounds per game. To beat them on the glass and hold them under their average was absolutely a key. I'm pleased with where we're at. We've had a tough stretch of non-league games, and I think it's helped us.”
Messiah returns to MAC Commonwealth Conference play for nearly the entireity of the season from this point on, beginning Wednesday night against Arcadia University. The Falcons will host the Knights at 6 p.m. in Brubaker Auditorium, followed by the men's game at approximately 8 p.m.
