XML Box Score Annville, PA – Messiah College fell behind early and could not recover against Lebanon Valley, falling 65-51 to Lebanon Valley to both end an eight-game wining streak and complicate the Commonwealth Conference postseason picture.
Â
The Dutchmen went up 17-6 to start the game and forced Messiah to play from behind the entire 40 minutes. The Falcons cut their deficit to 23-19 before heading to halftime down 31-23. They managed to draw within six points in the second-half but could not stop the Dutchmen from running away at the end.
Â
Taylor Umbrell, Caitlin Bach, and Kelly Chaklos each scored 13 points apiece for Lebanon Valley, while Lexie Lantz added 12 points of her own. Umbrell (16) and Bach (13) also combined for 29 rebounds—two more than Messiah collected as an entire team (27).
Â
In total the Dutchmen outrebounded Messiah 48-27—including 18-9 on offensive boards— though they held only a 14-12 advantage in second-chance points. The true advantage gained by Lebanon Valley throughout the afternoon was possession, which they used to outshoot the Falcons by almost ten percent.
Â
Even still, the Falcons managed to cut their deficit to six points on two occasions in the second-half, the last of which was on a three-pointer by Chelsea Chanel with 13:34 to play. Unfortunately, the Dutchmen responded with a 12-0 run to go up 19 points and effectively end any hopes at a comeback.
Â
Danel and
Gillian Glackin each scored 11 points while Katelynn Vanderhoff led the team with 13 points.
Â
The loss dropped the Falcons to 16-7 overall and 12-4 in the Commonwealth. Lebanon Valley moved to a tie with Messiah at 12-4 in the Commonwealth and now holds an edge over Messiah in any postseason tiebreaking scenarios. Elizabethtown College is also 12-4 to make it a three-way tie at the top while Stevenson is close behind at 11-5.
Â
With just two games remaining in the regular-season the Falcons will look to create some space in the standings. They will next play against Widener University at home on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
