Box Score
Lancaster, PA — In addition to coming away with a season-opening, 68-58 win at Lancaster Bible College Tuesday, Messiah head coach
Rick Van Pelt was beaming about an additional quality of the evening.
“No one got hurt, so that is a positive,” he said.
After being ravaged by injuries throughout the pre-season, Messiah (1-0) came up with a solid and surprisingly-deep team effort to hand the host Chargers a 10-point defeat in both teams' first contest of the year, shooting a 57.8 percent clip from the field while holding Lancaster Bible (0-1) to a 30.4 percent average.
The Falcons responded from an initial deficit to take a 36-29 lead at the half, hanging onto a — at times, small — second-half lead before pulling away in the final four minutes.
“It was good to get off to a winning start,” Van Pelt said. “With where our team is right now, we need to keep focused on the things we need to improve and work on. However, it is really good for the guys to experience the positive result. I think that each time we play our guys will see more and more where we can get better. If we work hard to improve in those areas I think this team can really make great strides this year.”
Behind a raucous, sold-out crowd at the Horst Center, it was Lancaster Bible that got off to an early lead, using an offensive rebound and putback to go ahead 16-10 with seven and a half minutes elapsed. A layup and three-pointer from senior Tyler Ritzman helped Messiah knot things up just three minutes later, but a steal and breakaway conversion from the Chargers' Kody Koser put LBC back up by two.
It was then that Van Pelt's squad would put its stamp on the evening.
A interior basket from senior Andy Hawk gave Messiah a 23-21 lead with 7:47 to play in the half, while the Falcons would eventually go on a mini-spurt: Back-to-back triples from Hawk and senior Josh Hartman were followed by a offensive putback from Hawk, surging the Falcons to a 31-23 lead.
Messiah would open up as much as a 12-point advantage in the final three minutes of the period before a late three from Koser pulled the hosts to the 36-29 difference at the intermission.
In the second period, Lancaster Bible would make a run, but it would not be enough.
A pair of free throws from freshman Taylor Groff equaled Messiah's largest lead of the night (49-37) with 11:55 to play, but the Chargers put together an 11-1 surge over the game's next three and a half minutes, pulling to within a 49-48 deficit with 8:31 to play.
After turnovers from both teams, freshman David Fernandez scored a driving layup, pushing the Falcons back in front by a 51-48 score. A pair of free throws from LBC's Andrew Risser pulled the Chargers within two, but a steal and fast break layup from freshman Brad Bolen made it a 56-50 game with 4:51 to go.
Lancaster Bible would get no closer.
Tyler Ritzman hit a huge three-pointer from the left wing at the 3:09 mark, getting fouled on the ensuing possession to push Messiah back to a 62-51 advantage. Lancaster Bible attempted to extend the game by fouling down the stretch, but the Falcons converted six of their final eight freebies to ice things.
“Lancaster Bible is a very solid team and Coach (Pete) Beers and his staff and players have done an excellent job over the past several years,” Van Pelt said. “I thought that our size and our ability to defend a couple of their key offensive weapons is what allowed us to win. They had such an advantage in quickness at a couple positions that we struggled with match-up wise, but (junior) Trey Ritzman and Josh Hartman came out from the tip and did a nice job defensively.”
Hawk, Fernandez and Tyler Ritzman paced Messiah with 15 points apiece — Hawk and Fernandez each grabbing 10 rebounds. Bolen knocked in seven points on three of five shooting from the floor.
The Falcons picked a good time to start making free throws, as before hitting six of their final eight, the team had gone just four for 11 from the line.
“We had some key contributions by a number of different people,” Van Pelt said of his 10 players who saw the floor. “I think we will really be as deep as any team that we have had in several years, if we can stay healthy. The talent is there but you can only get experience through time. And I have always said that experience is one of the key components to being successful in our league. So, we will be a work in progress to a degree, and we're excited to see what the end result looks like for this team.”
Messiah will play in Dickinson College Pizza Hut Tip-Off Tournament over the weekend, opening against the host Red Devils Friday at 8 p.m. Nazareth College and Oneonta State University will face off at 6 p.m. Friday's winners will play in the championship Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The consolation game is set for 1:30 p.m.
