Daytona Beach, FL - The Falcons put together a strong second half Monday afternoon while on the road at the Land of Magic Classic in Daytona Beach, Florida to take down the Seagulls (7-2) of Salisbury University 59-54.

After trailing the Seagulls 32-34 at the half, the Falcons (6-4) chipped away at their deficit and took the eventual lead in the third quarter by outscoring Salisbury 20-9.

"We executed offensively on our first few possessions," head coach Mike Miller said when asked about the second half. "We kept coming at them [Salisbury] with relentless pressure and that made the difference."

To start the second half, the Falcons worked the ball inside which led to six straight points in the paint. Tenacious defense also contributed to the turnaround as the Falcons held the Seagulls to just nine points in the third quarter.

With their deficit cut down to just two points (32-34) and the Seagulls on their heals, the Falcons drew even on a layup from Alecia Rohrer and pulled ahead with a little help from their bench.

Rohrer, Maci Thornton, and Libby Timmer combined for 9 points in the final minutes of the quarter to help propel the Falcons past the Seagulls 44-41.

The momentum swung in Salisbury's favor in the fourth quarter, however, as the Seagulls outscored the Falcons 9-4 to re-take the lead at 48-50.

All that changed when Becca Isaac hit back-to-back three pointers to give the Falcons the 54-50 lead with just 1:30 left to play.

In the final moments of the game, key rebounds and sharp free throw shooting proved critical to the Falcons' victory.

After a Salisbury bucket brought the score to 54-52 with 43 seconds to play, the Falcons missed a much-needed layup but Kristin Smoluk came up with the offensive rebound and was fouled in the process. Smoluk made one of two free throws to extend Messiah's lead 55-52.
 
In the next play, the Seagulls scored on a layup then fouled the Falcons as soon as the ball was back in-bounds. Hoff sunk both free throws to hold the lead 57-54.

The Seagulls attempted two shots in their final possession, but came up empty when Gillian Glackin brought down a defensive rebound to end Salisbury's chances. Fairbanks was fouled in the Falcons' final possession and sealed the victory with two free throws of her own.

In the final minute, the Falcons went 5-for-6 from the free throw line to claim the 54-59 victory.

Kaitlyn Hoff led the Falcons with 20 points, which is just two shy of her career-high 22 points against Alvernia on Feb. 17 last year. This was her second time hitting the 20-point mark.

Other key contributions came from Jen Fairbanks (13 points), Becca Isaac (6 points), and Alecia Rohrer (7 points, 4 rebounds).

"We got a glimpse of who we can be today," Miller said. "We need to keep having the mindset to keep learning while we fight."

The win moves the Falcons to 6-4 overall and hands the Seagulls their second loss of the season.

The Falcons will play their second and final game at Daytona Beach on Wednesday when the play the University of Wisconsin River Falls. The game is set to begin at 11 a.m.