Box Score
Grantham, PA — Last year in Brubaker Auditorium, Messiah needed
a last-second three-pointer from then-junior
Tyler Ritzman to beat Commonwealth Conference rival Elizabethtown College by a 61-60 score.
Wednesday night, Ritzman's early shooting prevented the requirement for another.
Messiah canned its first five attempts from downtown — and 10 of its first 11 shots overall — to sprint ahead of the Blue Jays by a 29-17 count, eventually hanging on for a 68-66 win.
Ritzman was at the forefront of the early surge, making three of his eventual five triples in the game's first five minutes — and scoring 15 of his 16 points in the first half — in helping the Falcons to a 40-31 advantage at the intermission.
It was just enough to get the hosts off a two-game slide of games decided by one possession, as Messiah outlasted a scrappy and determined E'Town effort in the second half.
“We obviously shot the ball extremely well, especially early, and that was a big factor,” said Rick Van Pelt, Messiah head coach. “The thing we've got to learn from this game though, and it's a negative, is that we are still not playing smart with a lead down the stretch. I'm not sure if that's a sign of our youth, but it's cost us. It cost us against Johns Hopkins (University), against Albright (College) and against Dickinson (College), and it almost cost us tonight. If we want to continue to beat good teams in our league like E'Town, we have to learn how to finish games smarter. We have to learn how to win.”
Messiah (7-7, 2-2) was buoyed by its insane shooting in the early goings of Wednesday's showdown, as the team made a ridiculous 15 of 22 first-half shots — a 68.2 percent success rate. Elizabethtown (10-3, 2-2) stayed close thanks to a respectable 11 of 23 performance from the field (47.8 percent) over the first period, pulling the deficit to seven points before freshman David Fernandez closed the half with a driving layup, plus a foul, though he missed the ensuing freebie.
The Blue Jays came out with a determined effort at the outset of the second period, however, scoring back-to-back buckets inside to pull within a 40-35 difference just two minutes in. The Falcons responded with a methodical, 13-4 run — highlighted by a fast break dunk from Fernandez — to claim a 53-39 lead with 12:15 to play, but E'Town would not go away. An old-fashioned three-point play from the Blue Jays' Joe Flanagan ignited a 9-0 E'Town spurt, a run capped by a thunderous slam from the visitors' Brian Allport with just over 10 minutes to go.
From there, it would be a matter of Messiah hanging on. Twice the Falcons re-extended their advantage to eight points, but each time Elizabethtown would close the gap thanks to pressure defense and aggressive offense.
Elizabethtown's Brian Harrity made one of two free throws with 1:50 to play, pulling the visitors to a 66-62 deficit. Sophomore Chris Yoder made one of two free throws after being fouled on Messiah's next possession, but the Blue Jays' Keith Fogel drew a foul on the visitors' next trip, making both to draw within a 67-64 score.
E'Town was able to force Ritzman into a closely-guarded miss on Messiah's next possession, but Fogel traveled while coming off a double screen on the Blue Jays' next offensive trip, giving the ball back to the Falcons with eight seconds to play.
Messiah got the ball to Ritzman on the ensuing inbounds, and the senior canned one of two charity tosses to make it a two-possession game. Flanagan missed a three-pointer on E'Town's final possession, but Allport nabbed the offensive rebound and scored a moot layup as time expired.
On the evening, Messiah shot a season-best 53.5 percent from the field (23 of 43) and 50 percent from beyond the arc (10 of 20), making just 12 of 20 free throws (60 percent). Fernandez and Yoder each scored 18 points to lead the Messiah charge. Fernandez went an incredible eight of nine from the floor, grabbing a game-high six rebounds as well.
Elizabethtown, meanwhile, made just 22 of 54 shots from the field (40.7 percent), including an 11 of 31 efffort in the second half (35.5 percent). The Blue Jays made just three of 18 from three-point land (16.7 percent), while the team's 66 points were the second-lowest scored on the season — and 14.9 points below their season-average of 80.9.
“I thought our defensive game plan, what we wanted to do on defense, we executed it well 90 percent of the time,” Van Pelt said. “I felt like we really competed hard. We talked about it before the game. Going against a team like E'Town, you're going to get smacked in the nose, and you've got to enjoy it. It's going to be a physical, hard-contested, every possession type of game. I felt like our guys really competed and battled tonight. It was an exciting game. It was two teams that were playing extremely hard, both wanting to win. Really, it was a typical E'Town-Messiah game.”
The win was Messiah's sixth straight over the Blue Jays in Brubaker Auditorium, a streak going back to a 78-63 Elizabethtown win Feb. 15, 2005.
Van Pelt and company will not concern themselves with streaks for long, however, as the team will travel to Alvernia University Saturday for another Commonwealth Conference match-up. Game time is set for 3 p.m. in the Crusaders' Physical Education Center.
