Grantham, PA – The Messiah College Falcons fell to the visiting Hood College Blazers on Wednesday night in Brubaker Auditorium by a final score of 74-68. The loss moves the Falcons to 2-6 in the Commonwealth Conference and 9-7 overall.
 
The Blazers came out firing, take a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest. Messiah was held scoreless for the first five minutes and trailed by as many as 13 with 10:55 left in the first-half.
 
With the Falcons trailing 22-9, Luke Cable hit a three that sparked a 21-7 run for Messiah. Sharp shooting from beyond the arc as well as buckets in transition highlighted the Falcon run. The stretch lasted 8:29 and by the end, the Falcons held a one-point lead with 1:56 left in the first-half.
 
A Blazer three ended the Falcons' run and the two teams traded buckets before Hood led 34-32 at the half.
 
After the break, Hood hit back-to-back threes to start the half. The Falcons then used a quick 9-2 run to take a 44-42 lead. The next 10 minutes of the game was a back and forth battle with neither team taking control. Neither the Falcons nor the Blazers held more than a five-point lead across the middle portion of the half.
 
But with 3:45 to play Hood seemingly took control, building an eight-point lead. However, Geoff Boyle scored five consecutive points for the Falcons to bring them within three with 2:34 left to play. The Blazers went 5-6 from the free throw line in the final minute and a last second lay-up by Zac Hoy was not enough as the Falcons fell by a final score of 74-68.
 
In the loss, the Falcons had a balanced scoring attack with five different players scoring 10-plus points. Luke Cable and David Fernandez-Bravo led the Falcons with 14 points apiece. Geoff Boyle (11 points), Zac Hoy (10 points), and Aaron DeVan (10 points) rounded out the Falcons double-digit scorers. While Josh Clippinger was the only other scorer for Messiah, collecting nine points in the contest.
 
Boyle also collected 11 rebounds to go with his 11 points for his fifth double-double of the season.
 
Hood was led offensively by Chris Cook (19 points) and Davon Hill (17 points).
 
As mentioned the loss moves the Falcons to 2-6 in the conference and 9-7 overall. Messiah next takes the court at Lebanon Valley on Saturday afternoon. Game time is slated for 3:00 p.m.