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Grantham, PA - For the last few weeks, it's seemed as if every game for the Messiah Falcons has been over by halftime. Wednesday's game against Alvernia was a different story.
Nevertheless, the Falcons peformed a late-game run to seal a 70-61 victory, their 10th consecutive victory.
"First of all, I think Alvernia played really well and up to their potential," said Messiah head coach Mike MIller. "We took their best shot tonight. Things were ugly and that was because of them mixing up defenses and doing different things. We needed a game like this. We've had it kind of easy and the fact that we pulled this out, it's exactly what the doctor ordered, so to speak."
The Falcons started off strong, as usual, and led 6-0 after the first two-plus minutes of the game. With another blowout victory seeming possible, Alvernia rallied to cut Messiah's lead to 8-6, and then tied the game at 11.
The Falcons trailed 17-16 midway through the first half-- the first time that they have trailed so late in a game since their victory over Gettysburg January 3rd.
The teams entered halftime tied at 26, with the Falcons and Crusaders each team making 10 field goals in the first half. However, the difference in shooting was evident: Alvernia made 10-22 shots (45.45 percent), while Messiah made only 10-38 shots (26.32 percent).
"We didn't quite have our edge that we need to have," said Miller. "We weren't clicking on defense, and certainly not on offense."
In the second half, Alvernia came out playing like the team who wanted to win more. They scored the first eight points of the half, giving them a somewhat-surprising 34-26 lead. They increased the lead to nine, at 37-28, before Messiah started their own comback.
The Falcons would score 13 of the next 17 points to tie the game at 41 with 11:27 remaining.
Their were four lead changes over the next few minutes, and the Falcons' winning streak appeared to be in jeopardy when they trailed 57-53 with 5:35 left to play.
But less than a minute later, junior
Dori Gyori hit a couple of foul shots and classmate
Katelyn Vanderhoff hit a layup to tie the game.
With the score knotted at 61-61 with 3:21 to play, the Falcons delivered the game's final run. They scored the final nine points over the last three minutes, all beginning with a a jumper and a free throw from Gyori.
"In certain respects, we are the better team and over the last eight minutes, we stepped it up and they had a hard time scoring," said Miller. "On our offense, our zone attack in the second half was wonderful. It forced them to go man-to-man and then they had a hard time stopping us or keeping us off the foul line. It was quite a different half compared to the first."
For the Falcons, Gyori turned in arguably the best game of her three-year career. She finished with a career-high 26 points performance on 11-16 shooting, including 4-5 from the free-throw line. Her 10 rebounds secured her 7th double-double of the season, and she played 32 minutes despite battling foul trouble throughout the game.
For Gyori, the night was made even more special as it marked the first time her mother-- who lives in Hungary, had been able to see her play basketball in America.
"Dori's been sick and hasn't been practicing," said Miller. "Her mom was here tonight for the first time to see her play in America, and then she got into foul trouble. Her mental toughness and maturity was on display. When she was court, she just focused, and that's awesome."
Sophomore guard
Taylor Miller scored 18 points, including a perfect 9-9 from the foul line. She played 35 minutes and didn't commit a turnover.
"Taylor had a great second half and really helped us out," Miller said. "She's someone who we want at the foul line at the end."
Junior
Katelyn Vanderhoff scored 14 points and led the team in assists (4) and steals (4). Junior
Kira Maier scored eight, while grabbing six rebounds, and classmate
Nicky Hess scored four with two assists.
The loss for Alvernia drops the Crusaders to 8-7 on the season, including 2-5 in the Commonwealth.
The victory, the tenth in a row for Messiah, improved the team to 15-3 on the season, including 6-1 in the conference. The Falcons' next game comes on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. against Albright. The Falcons won the first game by an 80-36 score.
