The Messiah men's basketball team defeated Immaculata University 92-60 in their first game of the TownePlace Suites Tip-Off tournament. Luke Cable led the team with 14 points and was 6 of 9 (66%) from the field. Four other players scored in double figures for the Falcons: Logan Long had 12 points, Nate Eberle and Matt Hess had 10, and Neil Murren finished with 11. Josh Clippinger and Josh Darville grabbed seven and six rebounds, respectively.
 
With the win Messiah improves to 2-0 on the season and Immaculata falls to 0-2.
 
The Falcons shot 53.2% (33 of 62) and 72% (18 of 25) from the free-throw line in the winning effort. Messiah's defense showed great effort, holding Immaculata to 35.6% shooting (21 of 59) and forcing 24 turnovers that led to 39 points.
 
Messiah got out to an incredible start, scoring 16 unanswered points from the opening tip, aided by triples from Luke Cable and Eberle as well as a thunderous dunk from from Clippinger off a steal.
 
The Falcons would not let their foot off the gas, pushing the lead to 28 (43-15) after two free throws from Long with a minute and a half left in the first-half. Wille Hope put an exclamation point on the opening period with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give Messiah a 48-22 lead at the break.
 
The Mighty Macs put up a fight at the beginning of the second-half, cutting the Falcon lead to 18 with 11:27 left in the contest. However, a quick 11-1 run, including a triple from Colin Sareyka and an old-fashioned three-point-play by Josh Darville, pushed the advantage to 74-46 at the 7:06 mark.
 
The Falcons would hold Immaculata scoreless over the final three and a half minutes, notching nine unanswered to take the 92-60 victory, their largest margin of the night.
 
Messiah will play Ursinus College, who defeated the College of Mount Saint Vincent by a 95-66 score earlier on the evening, in the Tip-Off Championship game tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. in Brubaker Auditorium.