Williamsport, PA – It's approximately a two-hour trip from Messiah College's campus to that of Commonwealth Conference foe Lycoming College.
The two-hour trip from Lycoming back to Messiah seemed to take a lot longer Wednesday night.
Such was the case for the Falcons' men's basketball squad after a 67-62 defeat at the hands of the host Warriors, owners of a 12-2 record overall and a 3-1 league mark following Wednesday's game.
“It felt like they (Lycoming) wanted it more than we did tonight,” said Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt. “They were more aggressive than us, they showed toughness and heart. Not saying we didn't – but they just showed more. Talent doesn't win anything, but when you combine the talent they have with the heart they showed, it made our task much tougher.”
In the early stages of the evening, it appeared the Falcons were going to be the team to beat.
Senior Jamie Yoder hit two free throws, and freshman Chris Yoder followed with a lay-up to put Messiah (8-5, 1-3) up to an early 4-0 lead. A subsequent lay-up by the senior captain pushed the margin to six while freshman Derek Mosley closed an 8-0 scoring surge on a lay-up.
Less than five minutes into the game, the visitors shocked the home crowd at Lamade Gymnasium.
At that moment, Lycoming's head coach, Guy Rancourt, called timeout to collect his troops.
Whatever Rancourt said seemed to work as his Warriors went on a 15-6 run, capped by Johnathan Williams' two free throws — giving Lycoming a 15-14 lead with 10:44 remaining in the opening half.
For the remainder of the period, the Falcons and Warriors went blow-for-blow as the hosts never trailed, despite three separate times that Messiah tied the contest in the half.
With 4:29 remaining, Lycoming took their largest lead of the half, 25-20.
However, junior Colton Reitz hit a lay-up and two possessions later, after failed attempts to score by Lycoming, Chris Yoder nailed a trey to knot the score at 25.
Following a mini 4-1 run, Lycoming entered halftime with a 29-26 advantage.
The 26 points was Messiah's lowest offensive first-half output of the season, no doubt aided by 14 first-half turnovers.
“In the first half, we simply did not take care of the basketball,” stated Van Pelt. “It hurt us as they scored quite a bit in transition off the turnovers. Against a quality team, on the road, we have to take care of the basketball.”
While Van Pelt hoped for a strong start to the second 20 minutes, Lycoming had other ideas.
The Warriors scored points on three of their first four possessions and took their largest lead of the game, 36-29, just 2:10 into the half.
Not to be deterred, Messiah would slowly chip away over the next five minutes and eventually regain a lead on a Mosley lay-up — capping a 14-6 Falcon run.
Like the wind on the verge of a storm, the next four baskets in the game changed which team held the lead.
Going punch-for-punch, Lycoming recaptured the lead before junior Josh Hartman, who had a team-high 14 points for Messiah, connected on a lay-up to put the Falcons back on top.
A few possessions later, the Warriors hit a deep three-pointer but Mosley responded 15 seconds later to put Messiah back on top, 48-47 with 10:03 left.
After a lay-up by senior Kyle Snyder, the ultra-competitive second stanza was tied up on a three-pointer by the Warriors' Ishaan Davis.
After both teams traded three-pointers a few possessions later, it was Lyco's Johnathan Williams who converted two free throws with 5:36 left for a 55-53 Warrior lead.
Unfortunately for Messiah, it would be a deficit they would never recover from.
In the closing minutes, the Falcons would cut the margin to a one-possession game on four separate occasions, the last coming with 90 seconds left after Jamie Yoder hit a jumper – to put him in double digits with 10 points, his 13th straight game in double digits – to close the game to three points, 63-60.
Needing a big stop on the defensive end, the Falcons' air was let out of the balloon as the shot-clock was winding down for the Warriors:
Lycoming's Eric Anthony hit a three-pointer with one minute remaining to take a six-point advantage.
“In the second half, they had some players step up and hit huge baskets,” Van Pelt said. “Anthony's three-pointer was a dagger as they were at the end of the shot clock. But, that's what good players do – he stepped up when they needed him to.”
After Snyder hit two free throws to cut the score to 66-62, Messiah forced Lycoming into a turnover.
Desperately needing a score, the Falcons looked to junior Tyler Ritzman for an answer.
However, Ritzman's jumper was off the mark with 18 seconds left and the Falcons were forced to foul.
Williams connected on one of his two free throws to set the final score at 67-62.
The free-throw line turned out to have a huge mark on the game as Messiah only went to the line 10 times, their second lowest amount this season. The Falcons were eight for 10 at the stripe while Lycoming converted on 14 of their 23 attempts.
A turnover by Messiah on its next possession with 11 seconds left took away all chances of the Falcons stealing a victory.
“Even though we did not play our best, it hurts to lose because we had a chance to take this one,” noted Van Pelt. “However, we can't hang our heads and we have to get back to work. We face a very good Alvernia team on Saturday and we have to be ready to go. They are extremely well-coached and very disciplined on the offensive end. Simply stated, they don't beat themselves and we'll have to be ready to compete for 40 minutes.”
The Commonwealth Conference newcomer this year, Alvernia will be playing Messiah for the first time since the 2005-2006 season. After the Falcons won the Commonwealth Championship over Widener, Messiah matched up against Alvernia in the first round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
Messiah won that tightly contested match-up, 83-77.
One of four teams sporting a Commonwealth record of 3-1, Alvernia brings an overall slate of 11-3 into the 4 p.m. at Brubaker Auditorium.
