Grantham, PA - Messiah men's basketball led early, but fell behind late and could not put together a comeback, falling to Alvernia University by a score of 76-70 on Saturday night in Brubaker Auditorium.
 
The result was much of the same as the last few games for the Falcons, holding leads early and into the second-half, but faltering down the stretch. Messiah's last lead came at the 12:42 mark after a Rob McWilliams jumper put the home team up 48-47. The Crusaders took the lead back and pushed it to seven multiple times, the latest coming with 44 seconds to play. The Falcons rallied back to cut the deficit to three, 73-70, with 14 seconds left on a Colin Sareyka triple, but were unable to put any more points on the board.
 
Sareyka had the best game of his young career thus far, tallying 18 points, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Josh Clippinger continued his solid play, recording 18 points as well, six rebounds, and three assists. Five Crusaders scored in double figures, led by Mike Miller with 17.
 
Messiah started the game hot, taking a ten-point lead after the first eight minutes. Luke Cable had two triples and Sareyka culminated the opening run with a deep three to make it 21-11. Alvernia fought back with a 12-2 run of their own to cut the deficit to 25-23 at the 7:23 mark.
 
Willie Hope came off the bench and temporarily stopped the bleeding with a nifty scooping layup around the Crusader center. The lead was trimmed back down to one on a layup from George Williams with 38 seconds left, but Rob McWilliams would send the Falcons into halftime with a four-point lead, 35-31, making a jumper with a foul and sinking the resulting free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play.
 
Neither team shot exceptionally well in the first-half, with Messiah going 14 of 32 (43.8%) from the field and 4 of 12 (33%) from deep, slightly better than Alvernia at 11 for 29 (37.9%) and 3 of 12 (25%), respectively.
 
The first ten minutes of the second-half was very back-and-forth, with neither team building a lead larger than three. However, the Crusaders began to pull away, with a triple from Alex Shippen giving Alvernia a 60-53 advantage at the 7:32 mark. The Falcons responded with two free throws apiece from Neil Murren and Clippinger, and following a pair of foul shots by Alvernia, Sareyka cut the deficit to two with a three from the top of the key.
 
That was as close as Messiah would come for the rest of the game. Sareyka scored eight of the last 12 Falcon points, but Messiah fell by six, 76-70.
 
The Falcons return to action on Friday, Dec. 16 at Lancaster Bible College. Tip is set for 6:00 p.m.