Grantham, PA — Christmas break is coming at just the right time for the Messiah men's basketball team.
With four players — including two starters — currently out of the line-up due to injury, Falcons' head coach Rick Van Pelt said he's hoping to have a fuller roster, not to mention a healthier team, when his squad dons their blue and white road uniforms Dec. 29 at Medgar-Evans College in Brooklyn, New York.
Before that time, however, the Falcons had some business to take care of: Business in the fashion of hosting the annual Messiah College/Hampton Inn Invitational.
Messiah dropped a 74-78 decision to Valley Forge Christian College in Friday's tournament opener but rebounded for a gut-check, 57-55 win over Williamson Trade School in Saturday's consolation game, entering the upcoming holiday break on — if nothing else — a high note.
Solid play was the case early in the opener against Valley Forge Christian (9-3), as Messiah (5-4) exploded out of the gate and scored the game's first 14 points. At the end of the run, the Falcons held a commanding 17-1 lead less than five minutes into the contest.
However, the visiting Patriots would not be fazed.
Methodically over the next 15 minutes, Valley Forge chipped away at the lead and eventually overtook Messiah as the guests entered the halftime locker room with a 38-35 advantage.
“In the opening minutes, shots just seemed to fall,” Van Pelt said. “After that, however, we started forcing things a bit and fell into what allowed them some easy lay-ups. We turned the ball over a few times and pulled the trigger early in some possessions. Against a good team like they are, we needed to make them work more on the defensive end.”
In the second half, Valley Forge stretched their lead to as much as 13 midway through the second stanza. The Falcons would cut the deficit to one possession on four different occasions, but were never able to take the lead from the Patriots.
In the end, Valley Forge moved into Saturday's tournament championship via the 78-74 victory. In the nightcap, Dickinson (1-6) knocked off previously undefeated Williamson Trade (9-1), 55-50, pitting Messiah against the Mechanics in Saturday's consolation match-up.
“Down the stretch, they simply had a couple guys step up and make shots,” Van Pelt noted. “Between their athleticism and our inability to keep them out of the lane hurt. We tried man, we tried zone, we tried anything. We just couldn't seem to stop them.”
Returning to the court less than 19 hours after completing their previous game, Van Pelt was hoping for a full 40-minute effort.
Little did he know the game would literally be determined by the last tick of those 40 minutes.
Facing Williamson Trade, the competitive first half saw the lead change four times while the score was tied on three different occasions.
In the waning minutes of the second half, both teams were nip and tuck as the Falcons chipped away at the lead that the Mechanics held.
When Williamson's Nate Armstrong connected on a tough three-pointer from long range – via a bank shot – the game was tied at 55 with :15 seconds remaining.
Enter a timeout by Van Pelt.
And enter late-game heroics by junior Tyler Ritzman.
As Messiah brought the ball into the frontcourt, Ritzman received the ball on the wing, opposite the Falcons' bench. With the clock dwindling down, the 6-2 guard pulled up for a tough baseline jumper.
With a hand in his face, Ritzman released the ball and the collective breaths from the Falcons — on the floor and on the bench — were held.
Ritzman's shot held true to form and splashed through the net with .01 remaining on the game clock as the Brubaker Auditorium crowd spilled into a frenzy.
“At the end of the game, we just tried to created offensively and get to the line,” Van Pelt said. “Fortunately, Tyler (Ritzman) got hot, which he certainly can do. We got some key stops, they turned the ball over once or twice and we were able to convert. And, thankfully, Tyler's shot went in.”
After a Williamson timeout, a literal last second full-court heave went unthreatened and the Falcons escaped with a 57-55 win.
“We'll take the win,” noted Van Pelt. “We were pretty fortunate to win – we just happened to have the ball last with a good look.”
On the night, Ritzman ended up leading the way for Messiah with 14 points. Senior Jamie Yoder reached double-digits with 11 points while classmate Kyle Snyder picked up a game-high 10 rebounds.
The difference in the game appeared to be from behind the arc as Messiah was 10 for 22 (45.5 percent) compared to a two for 13 (15.4 percent) effort from Williamson.
“I thought we played a bit better today against Williamson,” Van Pelt remarked. “We have been going with so many different line-ups (due to injuries), attempting to find any group that will be cohesive together. I have to give credit to our guys for continuing to fight and compete, even when things weren't going our way.”
In the opening-night loss to Valley Forge, Yoder led the Falcons with 20 points. Junior Josh Hartman contributed 13 points while freshmen Derek Mosley and classmate Chris Yoder chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Once again leading the way on the glass was Snyder, with a game-high 11.
In the tournament championship, Valley Forge defeated Dickinson 66-59. Jamie Yoder was Messiah's lone representative on the all-tournament team.
Now getting 17 days off from competition for the holiday break, Van Pelt said he is expecting the team to respond during the next several weeks.
“It's really important over the next two and a half weeks,” Van Pelt said. “We want to get better, which part of that is certainly getting healthy. We'll watch some film. We'll continue to teach about a better understanding of what we're trying to do in our system. Needless to say, this break may be coming at a good time for our team and it's great to go into it with a victory.”
