Box Score
Chester, PA - The Messiah Falcons dropped a heartbreaking 69-64 game at Widener University, snapping a 10-game winning streak. The Falcons squandered away a 57-52 lead with just 27 seconds left in regulation, allowing Widener senior Brian Smith to force overtime by sinking a game-tying three with just 4.6 seconds left in regulation. Smith again victimized the Falcons in overtime, connecting on another shot from downtown with 18 seconds remaining to give Widener a 66-64 lead, and an eventual a 69-64 victory.
"That was exactly the type of game I was expecting," said Messiah head coach
Rick Van Pelt. "I really think that Widener is one of the best teams in our league, talent-wise and with their style of play. Here on their home court they're tough. We didn't play real sound. We had some turnovers that were simply us making bad decisions and not necessarily their pressure hurting us. That was a little disappointing that we didn't play better doing the things we're capable of doing. Hats off to Widener. They're very, very good. Smith has hit that shot time and time and time again over his career."
The Falcons struggled on foul shots, getting to the line just 19 times and connecting on only 11 of their shots from the charity stripe (57.9 percent). Widener took advantage of 30 opportunities at the line, hitting 19 of them. The Falcons also committed 19 turnovers, including 12 after the first half.
"We gave up possessions today," Van Pelt said. "They got to the free throw line. They had more possessions than we had because we turned the basketball over in some silly circumstances. It was nothing that they did. We just made bad decisions. We need to get better at that."
Widener scored first in the game, taking a 3-0 lead, but Messiah took a 9-3 lead on four points by senior
Jeremiah Runkle and a three from classmate
Trey Ritzman.
Messiah increased their lead to 16-10, adding another three, this one from freshman Zach Hoy, but Widener embarked on a quick 15-3 run to take a 25-19 lead.
The Falcons then ended the first half on a 12-2 run, highlighted by another three from Hoy, and led 31 to 27 at halftime.
Widener came out playing like the more determined team at the start of the second half, taking a commanding 44-38 lead midway through the half. But Messiah scored the next nine, the big shot coming on a three from sophomore
Taylor Groff. Groff added a second trey just two minutes later.
The Falcons increased their lead to 55-48 with just 2:45 remaining. But Widener's Jack Brennan hit a pair of layups in the next minute to cut the Falcons' lead to 55-52. Two free offerings from the foul line gave Messiah a 57-52 lead with just 27 seconds remaining, but Smith sunk a layup with 14 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 57-54.
Messiah sophomore
David Fernandez missed the first shot of a one-and-one, and Smith sunk the game-tying three with four seconds left.
The Falcons still had a chance to win, but sophomore
Brad Bolen's three caromed off the rim as time ended in regulation, sending the Falcons into their fourth overtime contest of the year.
Within two minutes, the Falcons trailed by five, thanks to two free throws and another three from Smith. Ritzman connected on a huge three with 2:48 remaining, and the Falcons trailed 62-60. Bolen hit a jumper and then a layup on a fastbreak by sophomore
Christyan DeVan gave Messiah its first lead of the overtime session, 64-63 with 48 seconds remaining.
But Smith delivered yet another clutch three, this one with 18 seconds remaining, and Widener led 66-64. Runkle had an opportunity at the foul line with seven seconds remaining but he missed both shots, and although the Falcons got the ball back with time for one last shot, a turnover by Ritzman sealed the deal.
"We tried to come out in the beginning of the second half and go inside to Jeremiah," Van Pelt said. "But we didn't execute real well and it comes back to some of those silly mistakes again. Some poor shots that we should have been a little more patient on. I thought a little bit in the second half we got into the up-and-down game. They're averaging 82 points per game. They're in the top 20 in the country. We did a pretty good job except for a stretch where it started going up and down, and we were taking crazy shots and making crazy passes, and that fed right into what they do."
The Falcons were led on offense by Fernandez, who scored 12, along with six boards, five assists, and five steals. Runkle scored 11, including eight in the first 10 minutes of the game, and grabbed nine boards and four assists. Ritzman and DeVan scored 10 and 9, respectively, and turned in their usual solid defensive performances. Mosley contributed with 10 rebounds and Bolen grabbed eight.
"We probably expected them to use a little bit of a different press," Van Pelt said. "They mixed their presses up, which they always do, and we didn't do a great job of getting to the areas we wanted to get to, and moving the ball. The ball sticks in our hands and we don't move the ball quick enough. When we did, we did okay. I'm not sure how many turnovers we had against the press but most of our turnovers were on breakaways making bad decisions."
As far as losses go, this one was about as disappointing as it gets. The Falcons led by seven with 2:48 remaining, by five with :27 remaining, and by one with :19 remaining in the extra period. But they couldn't hold onto any of their leads. Their struggles at the three-point line (an uncharacteristic 0-for-8 by Bolen and junior
Derek Mosley), as well as inability to hit clutch foul shots, led to Messiah's sixth loss of the season, and their second in conference play.
The Falcons (14-6, 8-2) have lost four of their six games in overtime, and were victimized in three of them by a last second three point shot that banked in. For Widener's Brian Smith, this marked just a typical game for a player who has made his reputation on delivering game-winning three-point shots.
They will look to rebound from their loss with a home conference battle on Wednesday night against Lycoming College, who they defeated 60-52 two weeks ago.
