Clarks Summit, PA - The Messiah men's basketball team tipped off the 2015-16 season on Friday night at Sumit University of Pennsylvania and earned a 79-63 victory. With the game tied 33-33 at the half, Messiah outscored the Defenders 46-30 after the intermission to earn the 16-point victory. Micah Brown scored a career-high 23 points to lead four Falcons in double-figures on the evening,

Messiah jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. The opening run was highlighted by a Geoff Boyle dunk in transition. Luke Cable grabbed the rebound off a missed jumper before throwing a long outlet pass ahead to Boyle. In transition, Boyle slammed it home from the left side to give Messiah a five-point lead. The Defenders did not get on the board for the first four minutes of the contest, but after hitting a three to make the score 7-3 the Defenders went on a 17-5 run to claim a 17-12 lead.

A string of poor shooting by the Falcons aided the Defenders run. Messiah opened the game firing just 1-6 from downtown.

Despite the struggle from beyond the arc in the first-half (3-10), Messiah would fight back and tie the game at 20-20. Josh Clippinger capped off the 8-3 run for Messiah with a nifty spin move from the block for a left-handed lay-in.

With the game tied 23-23, the Defenders used an 8-0 run to stake a 31-23 lead. In that run, four different Defenders scored. With Messiah trailing 33-25, Clippinger grabbed a strong offensive board and got the put-back to go. He was fouled in the process and completed the three-point play to pull the Falcons within five. With just second left in the half, Jonah Meredith hit a baseline jumper to tie the game at 33-33 heading into the break.

After an 11-point first-half, Micah Brown started scoring in bunches to begin the second period. With Messiah leading 37-36, Brown scored eight of Messiah's next 12 points. After Brown's barrage, it was Jonah Meredith's turn to light up the scoreboard for the Falcons.

With 12:21 left in the contest and with the Falcons leading by five, Meredith put back his own miss. The put-back started a 90-second 9-2 run where Meredith accounted for seven of Messiah's points. After the run, the Falcons held a 60-48 lead with 10:32 to play.

With four minutes remaining the Defenders cut the Falcons' lead to seven, but a balanced team effort from the Falcons prevailed and Messiah picked up a 79-63 season opening victory.

As mentioned four different Falcons scored 15-plus points. Micah Brown led the way with a game-high, and career-high, 23 points. Brown was joined in double-figures by teammates Boyle (19), Clippinger (16), and Meredith (15).

In addition to his 16 points, Clippinger snagged 10 rebounds for his third career double-double.

Messiah will take the court tomorrow afternoon at Keystone. Game time set for 2:00 p.m.