Box Score
By Bryn Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Reading, PA — Messiah head coach Mike Miller said he had been looking for late-game intensity from his team.
Saturday at Commonwealth Conference foe Alvernia University, he was rewarded.
Messiah scored the final five points of the game against the Crusaders to capture a big win on the road — and its sixth consecutive game — by a 50-46 score in Alvernia's Physical Education Center.
"It was a great game for sure," Miller said. "Both teams played well. It was a defensive-oriented game. Both teams did a great job of forcing turnovers and challenging shots. I don't think there was an open shot taken the whole game."
Messiah (10-5, 4-1) and Alvernia (8-6, 3-2) traded baskets for the first few minutes of the contest, before the Falcons took an 8-4 lead on layups by freshman Taylor Miller and sophomore Dori Gyori.
The Crusaders scored eight in a row to take a 12-8 lead, and increased the lead to 16-10 with 9:49 left in the first half. Messiah finally stopped the drought on a layup by sophomore Nicky Hess, ending a streak of 7:37 in which the Falcons produced just one basket, and cutting the lead to 16-12.
Thankfully for Miller and company, the Falcons cut the lead down to 22-20 by halftime.
Gyori tied the game on a jumper less than a minute into the second half.
Gyori's jumper with 16:10 left in the game gave the Falcons a 29-28 lead, the first time since five and a half minutes into the game that Messiah held a lead.
The teams exchanged baskets back and forth for the next two minutes, with neither team taking more than a three-point advantage.
With 2:30 remaining, the Falcons trailed 46-45 and faced defeat for the first time since a 73-64 loss to Kean University on Dec. 18.
A key Alvernia turnover led to a Gyori layup to give the Falcons a 47-46 lead with 1:25 remaining, however, and the strong finish from the Falcons was on: Alvernia missed a layup and a foul shot, and Hess sunk a layup to give the Falcons a 49-46 lead with just 32 seconds remaining.
Following a Messiah defensive stop, Hess wrapped up the team's sixth consecutive victory with a foul shot to extend the lead to 50-46.
"This is the best game we've played in terms of playing down the stretch both offensively and defensively," Miller said. "We executed great. I feel like we really grew up at the end. We were down 42-40 with six minutes to play and we held them to only four points down the stretch, while scoring 10. (Freshman) Chelsea Danel hit a big three-pointer and they went up 44-43. We held them to just two points in the final five minutes."
Gyori finished with a team-high 19 points. She also grabbed eight defensive boards. Miller finished with 12 points, including three three-point shots, and three steals.
Alvernia easily won the rebound battle, 36 to 25, but the Falcons shot 42.5 percent for the game, while holding the hosts to just 35.2 percent.
"Dori was absolutely wonderful as an individual," Miller said. "She was the key to the victory. Not only did she score 19 and grab eight rebounds, she stopped their best player, who averages a double-double, holding her to eight points and seven rebounds."
The tasks get no easier for the Falcons, as the team takes its six-game winning streak into a home game against 15th-ranked Lebanon Valley College. The league foes are set to match up Wednesday in Brubaker Auditorium with a tip time of 6 p.m.
