Box Score
Williamsport, PA — The bad news from Tuesday night's 55-68 loss at Lycoming College?
Messiah's hopes to qualify for the upcoming Commonwealth Conference Tournament took a major hit.
The good news?
There's still a mathematical chance it could happen.
Thanks to other results around the league Tuesday, Messiah could still find itself in the post-season, but the team would need major help: If the Falcons beat Albright College Saturday, and Arcadia University — which has yet to win a league game this year — beats Elizabethtown College ... Messiah would be in.
If either of those things don't happen, the team is out.
“Stranger things have happened,” said Rick Van Pelt, Messiah head coach. “We're going to play as if Saturday gets us into the post-season. We realize we need some help from outside, but we have to take care of what we can.”
A win over the host Warriors would have seriously behooved Van Pelt's club Tuesday, but Lycoming (15-9, 5-8) proved too tough on the Warriors' senior night. As much as a 10-point Messiah lead dissipated late, as Lyco made the most of 11 second-half Falcons' turnovers, scoring 15 points off the giveaways to reverse the trend and come away with an impressive win.
“I told our guys afterward, I was proud of them,” Van Pelt said. “As the game was going on, I felt like we were a playoff team. It was a physical game and we flat-out battled. It was another game where a bunch of little things proved to be the difference. But it wasn't a lack of effort or fight from our guys. I was really proud of how we played.”
Messiah (11-12, 6-7) commanded the game's opening 20 minutes, shooting 52.2 percent from the floor (12 of 23) and limiting the hosts to just 33.3 percent shooting (seven of 21). Freshman David Fernandez was at the heart of the club's 31-24 halftime lead, scoring 16 of his eventual 20 points in the opening stanza — converting on six of eight shots from the field.
“This was David's type of game,” Van Pelt said. “He really competed and gave us a great chance.”
In the second half it was junior Trey Ritzman who stepped up offensively, scoring 11 of his career-high 16. A Ritzman trey gave Messiah a 37-27 lead with 14:41 to go, and things appeared to be well in hand.
But Lycoming — already out of the conference tournament picture — was playing for pride.
Senior Will Kelly led the emotional way, scoring four points in the next three minutes as part of a 13-2 Lyco run, giving the hosts a 40-39 advantage with 11:14 to go. Messiah would not sniff a lead again, though the team would get close: Another long ball from Trey Ritzman pulled the visitors to a 49-48 disparity with 7:18 to go, but three free throws from Lycoming helped the Warriors back to a 52-48 lead just moments later.
Ritzman's last three pointer of the game pulled the Falcons within a 54-52 spread with 4:17 to play, but another big Lyco run — sealed by a fastbreak dunk from the Warriors' Kevin Anthony — made it a 62-52 affair with 2:18 to play. The Warriors then converted free throws down the stretch, as the final score was the hosts' largest lead of the game.
“In the second half, we missed a couple of really good looks that we made in the first half,” Van Pelt said. “That, and there were at least three instances where we missed a chippy, Lyco got the rebound and converted on their end. You're talking four- or five-point swings on those possessions, and that makes a huge difference in a game like this. The free throw line ... it's been our Achilles' heel all season, and it was again tonight.”
Messiah made just nine of 19 free throws (50 percent), while Lycoming canned 26 of 32 chances (81.3 percent). That — and the Warriors' 15 points off 11 second-half Falcons' turnovers — proved too great to overcome.
Fernandez's 20 and Ritzman's 16 points paced the Falcons' attack. Freshman Christyan DeVan added six assists.
“I was proud of how we played,” Van Pelt said. “Christyan was very solid defensively, and he made things hard on Kelly. You're talking about a six-footer guarding a 6-5 guy on his senior night, and he keeps him to three of 12 shooting. He gave him fits. I thought we really competed tonight. We just didn't take care of enough little things to get the job done.”
As a result, Messiah will look for a win Saturday — and several other teams to lose — in hopes of qualifying for the four-team Commonwealth Conference Tournament. The Falcons will honor the three senior members of the squad before the game against the Lions. Game time is set for 4 p.m. in Brubaker Auditorium.
