Box Score
By Bryn Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Center Valley, PA — After falling short in a high-scoring, exciting, overtime game at Widener University last Saturday, Messiah dropped its second straight contest this weekend, losing a non-conference game at DeSales University by a 58-47 score.
The Falcons have won all four home games this season, but have fallen short in each of their four road contests.
Messiah (4-4) struggled shooting the ball Saturday afternoon, connecting on just 15 of 46 shots (32 percent). They easily won the rebounding battle — 39 to 28 — but were plagued by turnovers, committing 24 throughout the game.
“The game was a very hard fought battle,” said Mike Miller, Messiah head coach. “We did not take care of the basketball in the way that you need to when playing a great defensive team.”
The Falcons led immediately in Saturday's game, jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead. Then DeSales University rallied with seven straight points, and the early fight was on: Four lead changes and three ties eventually led to a 32-24 DeSales lead at the half, as the hosts turned a 21-17 contest into a 32-21 game in the span of five minutes.
Messiah exploded out of the gates in the second half, scoring the first six points to cut the deficit to two, 34-32. A jumper by sophomore Nikki Hess was sandwiched between two layups from senior Michele Schleich, and it appeared the Falcons were going to make a game of it.
But four turnovers and four missed shots helped DeSales (5-4) jettison out to a 41-32 advantage with 13:16 to go, and Messiah could never get closer than five points the remainder of the way.
A jumper from sophomore Becca Albus pulled things to a 50-45 spread with 6:31 on the game clock, but back-to-back threes from DeSales' Lori Lidlow and Sondrine Glovas reopened a 56-45 advantage, and the Falcons would get no closer from there.
Freshman Taylor Miller topped the team with 12 points in just 22 minutes of action, returning to play after a stomach virus sidelined her for most of the week. Schleich scored 11 and dished out three assists while sophomore Dori Gyori scored eight points and grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds.
As several players attempt to recovery from the nasty illness that made its way through the team and final exam week, perhaps the season's biggest test looms for next Saturday: Messiah will then play host to Kean University — a squad ranked fourth in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.
“We need to keep fighting and competing so we can create our own breaks," Miller said. "I'm looking forward for our opportunity to play the number four team in the country on Saturday. It will be another test for us.”
