Box Score
by Bryn Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Reading, PA - Nine and counting. That's how many consecutive games the Messiah Falcons' men's basketball team has won, erasing all memories of a slow start to the 2011-2012 season. Behind a 66-52 victory at Albright College, the Falcons improved to 13-5 (7-1), keeping their spot atop the Commonwealth Conference.
"I thought it was a really good win for us," said Messiah's head coach
Rick Van Pelt. "Albright is really athletic and they made it difficult for us in the first half to get into our usual offensive flow. If it wasn't for our defense, we would have been in big trouble. Albright hit some big shots and defensively we battled to keep ourselves in the game. It was a good game and a big win."
The game turned into a defensive battle early in the first half, with just six combined points in the first five minutes. Junior
Derek Mosley sunk a three-pointer from downtown to give Messiah a 7-2 lead, but Albright's Dave Singleton delivered a thunderous dunk to cut the lead to 7-4.
Messiah's offense started clicking, and the Falcons added eight points in the next minute, highlighted by three's from sophomore
Brad Bolen and freshman Zach Hoy.
Albright rallied though, and took an 18-17 lead late in the first half. At halftime, the teams were tied at 24, thanks to a buzzer-beating three from Albright's Derek Hall at the end of the first frame.
Albright scored first in the second half to take a 26-24 lead. It would be their last lead of the game. Messiah scored 12 points in a row to take a commanding 36-26 lead, the largest lead for either team in the game.
Senior
Trey Ritzman and sophomore
David Fernandez hit threes during the 12-0 run.
"We got to the foul line and we were getting defensive stops," said Van Pelt. "We made some plays and hit some shots. We did a good job of taking care of the ball and we didn't turn the ball over."
Hoy added a pair of threes in a little over a minute midway through the second half, and the Falcons led by a 44-31 score.
The Falcons led by double digit points for the remainder of the game-- turning an early close-contest into a relatively easy Falcons' victory.
Fernandez led the Falcons with 18 points on 6-12 shooting. He grabbed seven rebounds, dished out three assists, and grabbed two steals. Hoy scored 15, including three three-pointers, and and junior
Derek Mosley scored 12 with seven rebounds and three assists. Both sophomore
Brad Bolen and senior
Jeremiah Runkle scored seven points.
Over the past month, the Falcons have changed from a mediocre team that began the season with a 4-5 record and an inability to win close games to a 13-5 team that is ranked number one in the conference. Of their nine straight victories, six of them by double-digits.
With the loss, Albright falls to 11-8 on the season, 2-6 in the conference.
On Wednesday, the Falcons will host Lebanon Valley College at 6:00 p.m. They will look to avenge an 84-82 overtime loss in December-- the Falcons only loss this season in the Commonwealth.
"We definitely want to prove that we can beat them," said Van Pelt. "They're a very very good team and they present some challenges as far as guarding them because of what they do. It'll be a good game. Every team in our league is capable of beating every other team on a daily basis."
