Box Score
Grantham, PA — Prior to Friday night's home-opener against the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, members of Messiah's team told head coach Mike Miller that they had their fire back.
Saturday against Rowan University, it had not been extinguished.
Messiah clamped down in the second half to limit the Profs to an eight of 28 performance from the field en route to a 70-47 win in the final game of the Messiah/Hampton Inn Tip-Off Classic, posting its second straight blowout win following a season-opening loss at Johns Hopkins University Wednesday.
As in Friday's win over the Bobcats, the Falcons dominated the boards with a 43-27 advantage in rebounding, turning a seven-point halftime lead into the 23-point haymaker.
“I was very pleased with the response of our team coming out of halftime,” Miller said. “We played the second half like every possession had a purpose.”
It wasn't that the first half was too shabby, either, as Messiah (2-1) scored the game's first 14 points before Rowan (1-2) called a timeout. The Falcons canned six of their first seven shots from the floor during that stretch, threatening to turn the game into a sleeper before the 328 in attendance had time to get comfortable.
Rowan eventually settled in, however — and the Falcons cooled down — eventually pulling to a 25-22 deficit with 6:08 to go in the opening stanza.
A three-pointer from freshman Taylor Miller regained a 33-22 Messiah lead with 2:31 to go, but Rowan closed with four straight points, pulling to a 33-26 deficit at the break.
“We had a goal of limiting their middle penetration and thus their free throw attempts,” Miller said. “They came into the game averaging over 35 free throws per game and 74 and a half points per game. I thought we did a very good job stopping them in those two areas.”
With just six free throws attempted in the first half, Rowan would get to the line just seven times in the second, putting the onus back on the team's ability to convert from the floor.
That proved a chore as well, as the Falcons' defense held the visitors to a 28.6 percent field goal clip over the final 20 minutes. The result was an exponentially growing lead.
A three-pointer from sophomore Jordan Seiz gave Messiah a 50-34 advantage just seven minutes into the final period, while a layup from classmate Kira Maier made it a 55-34 contest just a minute and a half later. Those buckets were just part of a 19-3 Falcons' run that spanned 10 minutes worth of game clock, turning a 44-34 lead into a 65-37 advantage with just 4:11 remaining.
The Profs converted just one of 17 shots during the stretch, with Messiah forcing the visitors into seven turnovers as well.
Rowan finished the game hitting three of its final five shots from the floor, cutting into Messiah's 28-point lead, but only slightly.
Maier led all scorers on the afternoon, posting a career-best 22 points on nine of 17 shooting. She also grabbed six rebounds, nabbed two steals and swatted a block — earning Hampton Inn Tip-Off Classic Most Valuable Player honors as a result.
Sophomore Dori Gyori was also named to the all-tournament team, scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds, while Taylor Miller scored 14.
The Falcons' 17 offensive rebounds helped the team to 24 second-chance points. Rowan scored just two off of o-boards.
“Kira, Dori and (junior) Tremmie (Simmons) were great on the boards,” Miller said. “(Senior) Michele (Schleich) did a great job of shutting down (Rowan's Lauren) Gregg. Kira was great all weekend long. It was a very good two days of basketball for us coming off a performance that we were not proud of Wednesday.”
Lycoming College defeated the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg by a 67-66 score in Saturday's other contest. The Warriors benefitted from a late foul call with just 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation — Lyco's Kaitlyn Ober converted on one of two to erase a tie score.
Messiah will return to Brubaker Auditorium for a pre-Thanksgiving showdown with Susquehanna University Tuesday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
