Box Score
Annville, PA - Junior
Brad Bolen erupted for 28 points to lead the Falcons to a solid road-win over Commonwealth Conference foe Lebanon Valley College to open the Falcons' bid for a second-straight Commonwealth Conference Title.
Despite trailing 10-2 to open the game, a late 7-0 run in the first half keyed a Falcons comeback yet it was their defense that made the most impact.
“Overall, we did a nice job defensively in the first half, but we did a really great job in the second half,” head coach
Rick Van Pelt said. “Holding Danny Brooks [LVC's leading scorer] to less than 20 points is a great accomplishment for us. We wanted to limit his touches since he's such a threat whenever he gets the ball and we did just that.”
After trailing by as many as eight points in the early minutes of the first half, Messiah amped up their defensive pressure to force ten
Dutchmen (2-3) turnovers and converted those turnovers into quick points.
The Falcons steadily chipped away at their deficit, scoring seven unanswered points to take the lead with less than six minutes to play in the half.
Messiah rode this momentum and never looked back, taking a six point lead into the locker room.
“I wasn't really happy with a six point lead going into halftime,” Van Pelt said. “Our defensive pressure was making the difference and we needed to keep forcing turnovers, but I knew we should have been making better decisions offensively.”
Junior
Taylor Groff opened up the second half by scoring the first six points for the Falcons and yet it was back-to-back-to-back triples and an easy layup that went unanswered to extend Messiah's lead to 15 with only ten minutes to play.
The Dutchmen never backed down and fought to the end, but it was Messiah's defense and a very impressive 80% from the charity stripe in the final four minutes of play that made an LVC comeback next to impossible.
Bolen led the team with 28 points, shooting 4-8 from three-point land, and added eight steals. Groff contributed 11 points and went 2-2 from the foul line.
“I am very excited to get this win, especially on-the-road,” Van Pelt said. “We played well yet there are a lot of things that we can get better at. We aren't at the point in which we want to be just yet, so we'll come out tomorrow and keep working hard and improving.”
The Falcons next test will come on Saturday when they travel to Elizabethtown College to take on the Blue Jays. Game time is slated for 4:00 p.m.
