Reading, PA — Here's hoping the Messiah men's basketball team enjoyed the confines of Albright College's George C. Bollman Center Saturday afternoon.
The squad will be back there a lot sooner than expected.
Messiah handed the host Lions a 77-66 defeat in both teams' regular-season finale Saturday, a result that cleared up the final Commonwealth Conference standings: Messiah (16-8, 9-5) cemented its spot as the league's third place team, while Albright (19-5, 10-4) fell to the second seed.
That means that the Falcons will return to Albright next Wednesday evening to play in one of the Commonwealth Conference Tournament Semi-Finals. Top-seeded Lycoming College will host fourth-seed Elizabethtown College in the other.
“We knew going in that there was a good chance we'd face Albright (in the conference semi-finals) win or lose,” said Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt. “Hopefully, today's result gives us a little bit of confidence heading into next week.”
Heading into Saturday's four Commonwealth Conference games, 16 different scenarios existed for the final seeding of the four-team playoffs — with Messiah heading back to Albright in eight of them.
Impossible to predict based solely on the outcome of the Falcons' Saturday tilt, Van Pelt's team went in with no premonitions.
The Falcons left with a sparkling shooting percentage.
Messiah canned 27 of its 53 total shots on the day (50.9 percent) — including a sizzling 16 of 27 performance in the second half (59.3 percent) — to hand Albright a senior-day loss after the Lions claimed an early lead.
“We shot the ball very well, and that was really the difference,” Van Pelt said. “I'm not sure if we played all that well, but we shot it very well.”
Only converting on 11 of 26 first-half shots (42.3 percent), Messiah's made buckets came in a flurry. After falling behind by a 20-13 score 12 and a half minutes in, the Falcons canned five of their next seven shots, opening up a 26-20 lead of their own.
Senior Kyle Snyder started the push with his first three ball of the day, while junior Tyler Ritzman followed with a downtown connection. Junior Josh Hartman scored a runner with 4:37 to go in the half, and Snyder followed with his second three-pointer, this one coming off an assist from Hartman.
Albright closed the gap with a made three, a layup and three free throws over the final half's final 3:01, but Messiah utilized a pair of driving buckets from Snyder and sophomore Trey Ritzman to maintain a 30-28 lead at the break.
“We didn't shoot the ball super well in the first half as a whole, but we made some shots in a spurt,” Van Pelt said. “Kyle Snyder? He shot the ball well.”
Snyder finished four of seven from the floor in the game's first 20 minutes — including a two for three effort from deep — his 10 points spurning Messiah's effort.
In the second half, Snyder's teammates would catch fire as well.
An early run from the hosts was met by another serious push from Messiah — this one opening up the game permanently. Albright grabbed a brief, 35-34 lead with two and a half minutes elapsed, but the Falcons responded by hitting their next five shots from the floor, leading to a 46-37 lead with 14:47 to play.
Following a made free throw from the Lions' Zac Shaeffer, freshman Derek Mosley scored a layup. Another made foul shot from the hosts was answered by a driving bucket from Snyder, and Messiah led by a 50-39 score with 11:24 to go.
Albright would cut the lead to eight points (53-45) with 8:38 remaining, but Messiah's hot shooting would not cool: The Falcons buried three of their next four shots from the floor — including a pair of free throws — to open up a 61-45 lead with 5:15 left in regulation.
Albright would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Messiah made 16 of its 21 total free throw attempts — including 12 of 17 in the second half — keeping the Lions well at bay over the game's final five minutes.
Freshman Chris Yoder led the Falcons with 16 points on five of eight shooting, carding 14 of those points in the final stanza. Snyder finished with 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while junior Colton Reitz scored 12 and Trey Ritzman 10.
It marked the second straight game that Messiah had connected on over half it's shots from the field, and third in the last five games.
“Defensively, I think we can play better,” Van Pelt said. “And even though we shot well collectively, there are some guys who probably think they could have played better offensively.”
The end result makes for an interesting storyline, as Messiah will return to Albright Wednesday night for the aforementioned Commonwealth Semi-Final match-up. It's the second straight year that the Falcons have made the quick turnaround for the post-season, as a 58-77 loss against Widener University ended Messiah's regular-season last year. The team then traveled to Widener the following Wednesday, getting beat by a 76-61 score in one of the league semi-finals.
“We've done this a few times,” Van Pelt said Saturday. “To win this one, it gives us confidence. At the same time, it gives (Albright) some fire. We have to keep that confidence while at the same time know that we're going to get a completely different Albright team Wednesday. It's post-season basketball. It's a different level.”
The Falcons and Lions are set to tip things off — again — Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. Live Stats will be provided for fans who cannot make the trip. For those who can, admission is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for all students. Children under the age of six are admitted free.
