Grantham, PA - After 49 games and over 3,200 combined points scored, the Messiah men's and women's basketball teams will embark on the postseason in a double-header format on Wednesday, February 22.
The men's team (18-6, 12-2) will host Albright College as the #1 seed in the Commonwealth Championships at 8:00 p.m. The game will follow the women's match-up with Widener University, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The Falcons (21-4, 12-2) are seeded #2 in the tournament with Widener coming in as the #3 seed.
Wednesday will mark the first time since the 2006-07 season that the Falcons have hosted both a women's and a men's Commonwealth Championship game on the same day. On that date, February 21, the women defeated Susquehanna University 59-32, while the men lost in overtime to Widener 91-84.
Only one other time have the Falcons' teams both hosted Commonwealth tournament games on the same day. During the 2005-2006 season-- the date coincidentally being February 22-- the women defeated Susquehanna University 57-36 while the men defeated Albright College 78-59.
See below for more information on the Falcons' match-ups this week in the Commonwealth Championships.
Fans are reminded that, in accordance with Commonwealth Conference guidelines, admission fees will be as follows for both games: Adults $6.00, Senior Citizens $4.00, and Students $2.00, with children aged 6 and under being admitted for free.
NOTE: Admission paid for either game will allow entry for both games.
Live stats, radio, and video links are available within the teams' schedule pages on GoMessiah.com.
Women's Basketball: #2 Messiah College (21-4, 12-2) vs. #3 Widener University (17-8, 10-4)
Brubaker Auditorium, 6:00 p.m.
Fans of either team don't have to remember too far back to the last time these two team met-- it was just last week Thursday. In that game, the Falcons found themselves down 28-17 at the half, at Widener,
before using a 19-2 second half run to shock the Pride by the score of 56-49. In the game, junior
Dori Gyori scored a game-high 20 points and collected 11 rebounds while classmate
Nicky Hess scored 19 points on 8-12 shooting. Fellow junior
Kira Maier collected eight steals.
For the Pride, junior guard Kate Dellinger proved a tough match-up once again as she collected 11 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.
Earlier in the year,
Messiah defeated Widener in Messiah's Brubaker Auditorium by the score of 58-48 (video highlights included). In that game, junior Katelynn Vanderhoff propelled the Falcons with 16 points and five steals. Gyori fell a rebound short of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore
Taylor Miller added 11 points for Messiah.
Senior Lindsay Pepino led Widener with 15 points on that day (including 11-11 from the free throw line), with Dellinger scoring 13 points.
Messiah arrives in the Commonwealth Championships looking for their ninth conference title and first since 2010. After grabbing the league title in 2008-09, Widener University is looking for their program's second conference crown.
The winner of the Messiah-Widener will face either #1 Lebanon Valley or #4 Elizabethtown. Lebanon Valley is looking for their second-straight Commonwealth title after defeating Messiah in 2010-11 conference final.
Men's Basketball: #1 Messiah College (18-6, 12-2) vs. #4 Albright College (17-8, 8-6)
Brubaker Auditorium, 8:00 p.m.
The Messiah men's basketball team enters the Commonwealth Championships as the #1 seed for the first time since 2006-07. That season, the Falcons collected a conference regular-season record of 13-1 behind the Commonwealth Player of the Year, Jared Yoder. In the first round that season, the Falcons fell to Widener University in overtime before advancing to their NCAA Touranment by way of an at-large bid.
This season, the Falcons will look to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007.
Messiah's match-up with Albright College pits two familiar rivals against each other. Since the 2005-06 season, Messiah owns an overall record of 9-5 against Albright with nine of those 14 games being decided by seven points or less.
It was during that 2005-06 season that Messiah defeated Albright 78-59 in the first round of the Commonwealth Championships-- in the Falcons' Brubaker Auditorium-- before securing the program's first-ever Commonwealth Champoinship with a 56-55 win over Widener University in the final.
This season,
the Falcons defeated the Lions 60-57 on "140 Point Night" at Messiah (video highlights included) behind the 28 combined points of sophomore's
Brad Bolen and
David Fernandez. Senior Derek Hall led Albright with 13 points.
In their second match-up this season, the
Falcons defeated the Lions in their home den by the score of 66-52. Three Falcons scored in double-figures that night, with Fernandez, freshman
Zac Hoy, and junior
Derek Mosley scoring 18, 15, and 12 points, respectively. The Lions' Hall scored 13 points that night to lead Albright.
The Lions are looking for their first Commonwealth crown since the 2009-10 season, and third in program history. Messiah will be looking for their second such title since earning their first during the aforementioned 2005-06 season.
The winner of Wednesday's game will face the winner of #2 Widener University and #3 Lycoming College.
