Grantham, PA — Senior Sal Shani grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds, helping Messiah to its 14th straight game with an overall rebounding advantage in a 71-59 win over MAC Commonwealth rival Lebanon Valley College Saturday afternoon.
Messiah — ranked eighth in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 and D3hoops.com Top 25 polls — clinched a conference playoff berth with the win, needing just one more league victory to assure itself the top seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Playoffs. The squad ran its current winning streak to 15 games with the decision, remaining perfect in the last 45 regular-season conference games at Brubaker Auditorium — a streak dating back to the 2002-2003 season.
The Falcons needed a stoic effort to ensure that result Saturday, as Lebanon Valley (13-7, 6-3) came out with high intensity early. Perhaps feeding off the energy of a packed house — the announced attendance was 1,034 — the visiting Dutchmen forced misses on Messiah's first four shots from the field.
Sadly for the visitors, Messiah's defense was just as good. The Falcons forced a pair of turnovers and four misses on LVC's first six possessions, and when senior Ashley Brooks made a pair of free throws two minutes in, Messiah had a 2-0 lead. A jumper from Brooks followed, while a three ball from classmate Christa Wenrich offset Lebanon Valley's first bucket of the day. When Sophomore Angie Rapchinksi knocked in a trey at the 13:23 mark, Messiah (20-2, 9-0) had built a 10-2 advantage.
The Dutchmen would never sniff a lead.
LVC cut the deficit to three points (16-13) with 7:33 to go in the first half, but a 9-0 Falcons' run turned it into a 28-13 affair with 1:48 on the clock. Senior Katie Kalb did most of the damage during that push via a pair of threes, while another jumper from Brooks made it a 30-20 difference at the half.
“We hit them head on at the start tonight, and that's something this team has done very well all year,” said Mike Miller, Messiah head coach. “I thought LVC was ready to play, but so were we. We've done a great job not shying away from being the hunted, especially in the first five minutes of games. We're able to withstand the emotion from other teams and not get down. That's been really big for us.”
Kalb ensured there would be no let up at the outset of the second period, burying her third long ball of the afternoon just 28 seconds in. Another layup from Brooks followed at the 18:54 mark, giving Messiah a 35-20 lead and complete control of the game.
Shani recorded the team's first three rebounds of the half during that stretch, a push that would eventually lead to her career-high 19 caroms (outdoing her former personal best of 14 set against Bible Baptist Bible College Jan. 26). With Lebanon Valley unable to obtain second chances — the Dutchmen finished with just 10 offensive boards on the day, three of which coming in the game's final 3:51 with Shani on the bench — Messiah would maintain a comfortable spread throughout. A jumper from Kalb made it a 20-point contest (48-28) with 12:58 to go, while a pair of free throws from the scrappy shooter made it 58-33 with 9:33 remaining.
Miller's team kept a 20-point lead up until the 3:51 mark, but mass substitutions helped LVC finish the game on a 12-4 run, leading to the final margin.
In addition to her work cleaning the glass, Shani posted a team-high 16 points, going seven of 10 from the floor for her sixth double-double of the season and eighth overall. Kalb chipped in 13 points to go with four assists, while Brooks scored 12 (to complement seven rebounds) and Henninger 11 (to go with five assists).
Messiah placed at least four players in double-figure scoring for the 11th time in its last 15 games, while Brooks kept her double-digit scoring streak in tact — pushing the number to 12 straight games.
The Falcons' 44 to 32 advantage in total rebounds marked the 16th time this season the squad had outrebounded an opponent, an impressive mark considering last year's 30-3, national runner-up team only did it 17 times. Saturday's rebounding statistics helped offset Messiah's 38.6 percent shooting clip from the floor, the lowest mark in any of the Falcons' wins this season.
“Sal just dominated the boards,” Miller said. “I thought our energy defensively and on the glass was great. I thought LVC ran their offense much better (than in our first game against them) and we had to defend well. We took care of the ball much better than we did Tuesday (against Elizabethtown College), and we did so against a very good defensive team, especially on the perimeter. Considering we don't have a true point guard, that's a collective thing for us.”
Messiah now gets the luxury of a full week off, as the squad will sit idle until next Saturday. The Falcons will then travel to Albright College for a Valentine's Day meeting. That game is slated to start at 2 p.m.
“We'll use the week to get three good days to work on our stuff and try to get better,” Miller said. “We've got some stuff to clean up. We'll then take Thursday and Friday to focus on Albright. But the three days to work on shoring up our weaknesses, that's big. Especially at this point in the year.”
