Grantham, PA — And now, it gets really interesting.
Messiah failed to punch its ticket into the Commonwealth Conference Tournament Tuesday night, dropping a 66-79 decision to Lycoming College — the team's first defeat in its last four games.
The loss moved the Falcons to 14-8 overall and 7-5 in the league standings, keeping the squad a win away from assuring itself a berth in next week's conference playoffs: With just two regular-season games remaining and five teams within a game and a half of each other in the league standings, Messiah could still finish anywhere from third to seventh in the final conference tally.
“We didn't do ourselves any favors tonight,” said Rick Van Pelt, Messiah head coach. “We've got no time to dwell on this one, though. It's on to the next one.”
An up-tempo Lycoming defense proved difficult to manage for Van Pelt's club Tuesday night at Brubaker Auditorium, forcing 20 Messiah turnovers and a boatload of missed shots. The Falcons hoisted a season-high 32 threes Tuesday night but converted on only 10 of those attempts — a paltry 31.3 percent.
That clip was the lowest Messiah had shot from beyond the arc since late November.
“Lycoming makes you speed up,” Van Pelt said. “They make you play so fast. Before the game, I figured our shooting percentage wouldn't be quite as good because of that, but you've got to get to the foul line against a team like Lyco, and we did not.”
Messiah made just eight of 10 charity tosses on the evening — the second-lowest marks on the season — while an early Falcons' lead was short-lived. A game-opening three from junior Josh Hartman was complemented by a pair of jump hooks from classmate Colton Reitz, and Messiah possessed a 7-2 advantage just four minutes in.
Lycoming's frenetic pace would slowly turn the momentum of the game in the visitors' favor, however.
Flying around the ball defensively and pushing the tempo on offense, Lycoming (19-4, 9-3) began to assert its style of play. A steal and layup from lightning-quick Warriors' guard Jerald Williams tied the game 10-10 just two minutes after Messiah's initial five-point lead, while a three from Lyco's Johnathan Williams made it a 15-12 Warriors' lead with 12:25 remaining before the half.
Reitz scored an interior bucket to pull Messiah within a 15-14 deficit on the Falcons' next trip, but Lycoming then put together a 12-0 run that encompassed the next six minutes of game clock — opening up a 27-14 lead with 5:45 to go.
A three-pointer from sophomore Trey Ritzman and an athletic tip-in from his older brother Tyler cut Lyco's lead to 31-24 with 2:40 to play before the intermission, but another Lycoming spurt — this one a 5-0 push — regained a 36-24 Warriors' lead a the break.
“We shot 17 threes in the first half, and that's just too many,” Van Pelt said of his team, which made just four of those attempts. “And even though we shot better in the second half (six of 15, 40 percent) we had three or four of those makes come in a short period of time. We just couldn't sustain it to make a big enough dent.”
Lycoming shot out to an 18-point lead early in the second half and kept at least a 13-point spread until the final six minutes, where Messiah's final run of the game came up short. A pair of threes from senior Kyle Snyder was followed by a triple from classmate Jamie Yoder with 4:02 to play, cutting the Warriors' lead to 68-59.
Misses on five of Messiah's next six possessions kept things from getting any closer, however, as Lycoming made just enough free throws (19 of 28 overall, 67.9 percent) to put things on ice down the stretch.
Yoder finished with a team-leading 16 points on five of 12 shooting, while Hartman scored 12 on a four of eight effort. Reitz scored nine points — six in the first half — while Snyder added eight to go with a game-high nine boards.
The prevailing story following the game was that of Messiah's post-season chances, as another crazy evening in the Commonwealth Conference did little to clear up the down-to-the-wire race: If Messiah wins either of its final two regular-season games, the Falcons are in the four-team playoffs. If they lose both, they fail to control their own destiny, and would need help from other teams.
In essence, the magic number has become eight league wins.
“We've said it for awhile now,” Van Pelt said Tuesday night. “Win eight, you're in. After tonight's game, a member of our staff said that Thursday's game (against Lebanon Valley College) is a must-win for us. I thought tonight was a must-win. They're all must-win games when you've got a league that's as tight as this one is. Sure, there's a lot on the line Thursday, but it's been that way all year, really. Every single game has been important.”
Messiah will host Lebanon Valley Thursday night in a snow make-up date, while the Dutchmen are among the throng of teams vying for a post-season berth: LVC enters with a 6-6 league record, having won four of its last five conference tilts.
“They may be playing as well as anyone right now,” Van Pelt said. “Obviously, it's a big game for both teams.”
Messiah will honor its seniors prior to the Thursday night tip in Brubaker Auditorium, slated for 7 p.m.
