Box Score
Reading, PA — For a program that makes getting to the Commonwealth Conference Tournament a thrilling adventure, Messiah has had a hard time avoiding utter heartbreak once there.
For the second time in as many years, the squad fell by a razor-thin margin in the semi-final round, dropping a 49-51 decision to top-seeded Alvernia University Wednesday night — and concluding its 2010-2011 season in the process.
It was a stark difference to the feeling on campus just four days earlier, where the Falcons used a 63-62 win over Albright College — and Arcadia University's first conference win in its last 28 attempts — to eke into the post-season at (literally) the last possible second.
Despite Messiah's best-laid plans for a Wednesday upset, however, it was not to be: Alvernia hung on down the stretch thanks to some timely free throw shooting, advancing to the Commonwealth Conference Championship game for the first time in program history.
“We're obviously disappointed,” said Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt. “We all expected and thought we were going to win. On Tuesday not one person thought that it was our last practice. Everyone thought we'd be back Thursday.”
Van Pelt paused.
“To lose like this, that's what makes it tough,” he continued. “Last year was a heartbreaker, too. You think about all the plays after the game ... little things like loose balls we didn't come up with, great looks that we didn't knock down. That's the toughest part. We'll be thinking about this one for awhile.”
Messiah (12-13) had a tough time thinking about anything but its shooting woes early Wednesday, as a seven for 27 clip from the field (25.9 percent) made things an uphill battle from the start. Thankfully, some stout defense and a respectable job on the boards kept things from getting ugly, as Alvernia (17-6) could only muster a 25-18 lead at the break.
“Watching the game as it was played, it didn't feel as close as it really was,” Van Pelt said. “I'm not sure if we've ever shot worse in a half before, but this had to be close. We didn't feel like we were playing very well, and felt fortunate to only be down seven at the break.”
Alvernia extended its lead to a game-high 10 points just three and a half minutes into the second half, but it was then that Van Pelt's club made its most prominent run of the night, scoring 12 of the game's next 13 points to grab a 34-33 lead midway through the stanza. Senior Andy Hawk was a big part of the run, knocking down a pair of three pointers, while freshman Brad Bolen capped things with a hanging jumper.
As would be the trend throughout the second half, however, Alvernia had an answer.
As Messiah quieted the 1,037 white-towel waving fans, the Crusaders' Stefan Thompson brought them back to life, drilling his only three ball of the night with 9:59 to go.
Messiah battled back over the next several minutes to take a 43-42 lead off a layup from junior Jeremiah Runkle with 2:45 to go, but another Crusader long ball — this one from Tad Gillis — reignited the crowd and regained the hosts a lead.
“Those two threes they hit were huge,” Van Pelt said. “Every time we took a lead in the second half, they just squelched our momentum. Every time we fought back and got on top, they hit a big shot.”
Gillis' triple would be Alvernia's last field goal of the game, as the final two minutes produced somewhat of a free throw shooting contest: After Runkle tied the game 45-45 off an offensive rebound with 1:50 to play, both teams traded empty possessions, setting up an anticlimactic finish.
As Alvernia worked the ball on offense, freshman David Fernandez punched it away, causing a scramble toward the sideline. As Fernandez and Alvernia's Stefan Thompson went after it, Fernandez was whistled for a foul with just 39 seconds to go.
Thompson went to the line and calmly drained both.
On the Falcons' ensuing possession, Runkle got the ball on the left block, shot faked and got Alvernia's Cory Boone in the air with 18 ticks remaining, earning a trip to the line himself.
He missed the first. Then the second.
The Crusaders' Thompson collected the second missed shot and was fouled immediately. He knocked in both the first and the important second, putting Alvernia up by a 49-45 score.
Senior Josh Hartman knocked down a jumper on Messiah's next possession to make it a 49-47 contest with nine seconds to go, but again Alvernia was solid at the free throw line, as the Crusaders' Brian Nerney knocked in two more with five seconds remaining.
Only a moot, buzzer-beating jumper from junior Trey Ritzman changed the scoreboard again, as the Falcons had come up just short.
“Alvernia is a good team,” Van Pelt said. “They have pieces that fit nicely together. They have two seniors and three juniors, and they play the whole game. They've been the top team in our league for a reason, and we just weren't able to get it done on their court tonight.”
Runkle paced Messiah's efforts with his sixth double-double of the year, scoring a career-high 18 points to go with a career-high 13 rebounds. Hawk added 10 points on four of seven shooting, while sophomore Derek Mosley came off the bench to score nine.
As was the case in 17 of the team's 25 games this year, Messiah was dwarfed at the free throw line. Runkle's two of five performance accounted for all the free throws made and taken on the Falcons' end, while Alvernia knocked in 13 of 19 chances.
Van Pelt said Wednesday's defeat was similar to last year's 67-73 league semi-final loss at Albright College, in that Messiah had its chances.
“Going in, I thought Jeremiah needed to have a double-double, we'd have to make 10 threes and we'd have to defend the way we've been defending,” Van Pelt said. “The one thing we didn't do tonight was knock down a couple threes. We were that close.”
Van Pelt now says goodbye to a group of seniors in Hawk, Hartman and Tyler Ritzman who advanced to the Commonwealth Tournament in three of their four seasons, with Hawk making four post-season appearances thanks to his medical redshirt last year. He was the only one of the group to play in a league championship game (in 2006-2007).
“I feel bad for this group because we didn't get a chance to play for a conference championship,” Van Pelt said. “I'm glad we were able to make it into the playoffs, but we felt really good about this game, about how we'd been playing, about our chances. This one hurts, but it's our hope it will fuel our returners for next year. We're close to getting where we want to be.”
