Annville, PA – The Messiah men's basketball team traveled to Lebanon Valley on Wednesday and defeated the Dutchmen 64-51. Messiah exploded in the second-half, outscoring the Dutchmen 39-26 after the intermission.
 
Luke Cable led three Falcons in double-figures with 15 points. Logan Long (12 points) and Neil Murren (11) joined Cable with 10-plus points in the victory.
 
Murren also collected a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. His previous career-high of six rebounds came against Albright two weeks ago.
 
The first-half began with a pair of free throws for the Dutchmen less than 30 seconds into the game. Josh Clippinger countered with a layup in the first minute to tie the score at 2-2. After Clippinger's bucket, Lebanon Valley went on a 12-4 run over the next six minutes to claim a 14-6 lead. The eight-point advantage was the Dutchmen's largest lead of the first-half.
 
Over the next eight minutes, the Falcons and Dutchmen traded baskets. After Lebanon Valley's Andy Orr hit a three with 5:04 left in the half the Dutchmen led by six at 23-17. Logan Long properly responded with a three of his own assisted by Luke Cable to cut the deficit in half.
 
Over the next three minutes, the two teams combined to go 0-10 from the floor before Cable drilled a three off a pass from Neil Murren to tie the game up for the first time since it was 2-2.
 
After two free throws by Lebanon Valley, Matt Hess hit a jumper to close out the half and bring the score to 25-25.
 
After the break, Luke Cable nailed a three and the Falcons were off to the races. Cable's three gave the Falcons their first lead of the night at 28-25 just 30 seconds into the half and, after taking the lead, the Falcons wouldn't give it back. A 21-7 run over the first eight minutes gave Messiah a 14-point edge. On the run Messiah went 5-5 from beyond the arc, with Neil Murren and Logan Long each hitting two apiece, in addition to the one Cable hit at the start of the half. In contrast, the Dutchmen went 0-3 from downtown during the same stretch.
 
Lebanon Valley ended Messiah's run with a quick, 40-second, 5-0 streak to cut the Falcons' lead to single digits. The Falcons weathered the storm and countered with a 10-2 run to open up a 17-point advantage with 6:38 left in regulation.
 
After the run Messiah held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game and grew the lead to as many as 18, after Jonah Meredith connected on a free throw with 2:53 remaining.
 
Lebanon Valley chipped away at the Messiah lead, scoring the final five points of the contest, but it was too little too late as the Falcons defeated the Dutchmen by a 64-51 final.
 
As mentioned, Neil Murren highlighted the night with his first career double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
The win moves the Falcons to 5-12 on the season and 2-6 in the MAC Commonwealth. Tonight's game wraps up the first trip through the conference, and the Falcons will travel to Stevenson next Wednesday for a rematch with the Mustangs. Stevenson defeated the Falcons 74-55 earlier this season. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.