Grantham, PA — A college basketball game lasts 40 minutes.
Fortunately for Messiah, they're not a moment longer.
The host Falcons withstood a deliberate, methodical comeback from arch rival Elizabethtown College Tuesday night, hanging on for a 67-64 win amid the nut house that was Brubaker Auditorium. As much as a 17-point Messiah lead was whittled away over the game's final 16 minutes, leaving head coach Rick Van Pelt thankful that Tuesday's MAC Commonwealth contest was not a minute longer.
“A minute? Try seven seconds,” Van Pelt said to open the post-game press conference. “E'Town is at their best when things get fast. Offensively, they're great when the ball is flying down the floor, and defensively they excel when they're running people at the ball and trying to speed you up. They really got after it late, but I thought the difference for us was our first half. To hold them to just 20 points really set the table for the rest of the night.”
Messiah (6-14, 4-4) claimed a 35-20 lead at the intermission thanks to some stingy defense (Elizabethtown shot just eight of 21 from the field, 38.1 percent) and some brilliant offensive execution. Junior Andy Hawk paced a 52 percent cumulative shooting effort from the field scoring 11 points, burying a trio of threes that ignited the boisterous and “whited out” student crowd.
A three-ball from junior Jamie Yoder started the evening, and — as close as Elizabethtown (10-10, 4-4) would get — they would never take a lead. A trey from senior Drew Sneeringer followed, and when Sneeringer hit on a nifty pull-up jumper less than four minutes into play, Messiah had an 8-3 lead and the type of start it had hoped for.
E'Town cut the lead to just five points (14-9) at the midway point of the period, but a barrage of Messiah trifectas would help the hosts to a comfortable halftime lead. Sneeringer buried his second long ball of the night on the Falcons' next possession, while sophomore Josh Hartman followed with another. When Hawk buried back-to-back threes on Messiah's ensuing possessions, the hosts led by a 26-13 score and Brubaker appeared to be coming unglued at the seams.
A quick, 7-0 run from the Blue Jays dampened the mood only slightly before halftime, as another series of heart rate-inciting plays gave Messiah all the momentum at the intermission. A strong layup from junior Kyle Snyder pushed the Falcons' lead back to 28-20 with 2:23 to go, while a emotional three-point play from senior Jason Miller helped the hosts to a 32-20 lead with 1:30 on the clock.
When Hawk buried his third three of the half with 35 seconds left — all of which coming from within a hoola hoop-sized spot on the left wing — the Pelties were back in crazy mode.
“I thought we did a really good job in transition (defense) in the first half, and did a really good job against E'Town's flex (offense),” Van Pelt said. “Of course, it helps to make shots. I thought the only real difference between our first half tonight and our first half at Arcadia University (in Saturday's loss) was that we made shots.”
Van Pelt's squad continued to do that with efficiency to start Tuesday's second half, converting on its first three attempts from the field to claim a game-high 42-25 lead with 16:20 to play. A driving layup from Hartman provided that difference, and it appeared that things had the chance to turn punchy in one of the league's best rivalries.
E'Town, however, had other ideas.
Blue Jays' head coach Bob Schlosser called a timeout following Hartman's layup, and from that moment Elizabethtown's entire scheme seemed to change. The Blue Jays began utilizing a high-risk, high-reward run-and-jump press following made baskets, a tactic that seemingly changed the pace of the game — and the momentum.
In perhaps one of the most methodical, meticulous runs in basketball history, Elizabethtown was able to close to the final three-point margin behind a 39-25 run that encompassed the game's final 16:20. A three-pointer from E'Town's Chris Jones cut a 45-30 deficit to a 45-33 difference at the 14:07 mark. A layup from the Jays' Josh Houseal made it a 45-37 deficit with 12:23 to go. A three from Houseal was followed by a layup from teammate Kyle McConnell with 7:56 remaining, and Elizabethtown was down by only a 53-47 margin.
Messiah was answering E'Town runs with clutch baskets, but not often enough to keep the point spread.
When Hawk made a huge baseline jumper to pull the Falcons back ahead with 4:28 on the clock, E'Town answered with another long ball on its next possession to pull within a 60-56 score with three and a half minutes left.
Suddenly, it was anyone's game.
“We obviously played well enough to win, but I thought we just played some ugly basketball in the second half,” Van Pelt said. “We were fairly disorganized out there, but that's what E'Town wants to get you into. People are open (against their press), you just have to find a way to get them the ball. E'Town works very hard defensively. I thought we were able to take advantage of some areas of their defense just enough.”
In the end, Van Pelt's squad was able to stave off defeat by making just enough free throws, as the squad made five of its final eight attempts in the game's final 2:24. Messiah's last field goal came at the 3:28 mark — courtesy of a post move from Hawk — and the Blue Jays looked to extend the game by fouling.
Hartman hit one of two charity tosses with 16 seconds to play — making it a 67-62 ballgame — but E'Town's McConnell scored a layup with under four seconds left, and the visitors called a timeout. Following a series of inbound efforts that were deflected back out of bounds by the Blue Jays, Messiah was able to inbound the ball to Hartman. An official blew his whistle split seconds before the final horn went off — it remains unclear if a charge call against Hartman or a block against E'Town would have been called — but the game was signaled as over.
Messiah had escaped. By mere seconds.
“A couple times we dribbled into corners and we got ourselves into some predicaments with the ball,” Van Pelt said. “I thought bringing Kyle Snyder up to help out with some of the ball-handling against E'Town's press was a great adjustment. (Assistant coach) Scott Barton suggested that, and I think it paid huge dividends for us.”
Hawk led all scorers in the contest with 18 points on seven of 11 shooting, grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year and ninth overall. Yoder chipped in 13 on a four of eight performance from the floor, while Sneeringer had 11 points on a four of six effort. Hartman scored 10 points, giving Messiah at least four double-figure scorers for the third time in the last four games.
Statistically, the game was nearly even as overall shooting, rebounds, fouls and turnovers were all nearly identical. Neither team helped itself from the free throw line (E'Town: eight of 15, Messiah: 13 of 21), a category that could have easily changed the outcome.
Messiah's win further complicates the league standings, as just a game and a half separates first from third — a difference that encompasses six teams.
“I thought Sneeringer really came to life offensively tonight, which was great to see,” Van Pelt said. “Andy obviously was huge for us, and I thought that Drew and Jason did a good job defensively. Every game is big, especially with as much parody as there is in the league. This was a big one for us, and we've got another big league game on Saturday.”
Messiah will host MAC Commonwealth rival Lebanon Valley College on Saturday, but will first travel to Penn State University-Harrisburg for a rare out-of-league February contest Thursday. The Falcons will take on the Lions at 7 p.m.
