Grantham, PA - Messiah men's basketball took an early lead over Albright College and never looked back, knocking off the Lions by a score of 73-53. It was a great win for the Falcons, as Albright is currently second in the MAC Commonwealth standings.
 
Rob McWilliams led the Falcons with 21 points, and Josh Clippinger notched a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Nate Eberle also had an impressive game off the bench, tallying 10 points and 9 boards. Messiah outrebounded Albright by a margin of 43-35, recorded 15 assists to the Lions' nine, and turned Albright over 13 times while giving the ball away only eight times themselves.
 
Messiah improves to 8-7 on the season and 3-4 in the MAC Commonwealth, while Albright falls to 7-9 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
 
The Falcons opened the game on with a 10-2 run, thanks to triples from Luke Cable and Rob McWilliams along with a jumper by McWilliams and a layup from Josh Clippinger. After Albright cut the lead to four, 12-8, at the 12:50 mark, Messiah responded with an 13-4 run. It began with a Nate Eberle three and a Neil Murren layup, followed by eight straight points from Clippinger to make it 25-12 with eight minutes to play in the half.
 
With Messiah up by 13 and just over a minute remaining in the opening period, Rob McWilliams put on a quick four-point run by himself, knocking down a jumper from the left elbow and then stealing the ball from Jayson Clark on the ensuing Lion possession and racing coast-to-coast for the contested layup to push the Falcon lead to 39-22. McWilliams already had 15 of his career-high 21 points at the half.
 
After a pair of free throws from Fred Rowles, Messiah headed into halftime with a 15-point advantage, 39-24.
 
Albright showed a few signs of life at the beginning of the second period, cutting the Falcon lead to 11 at the 15:08 mark, 43-32. However, Messiah quickly put that surge to rest, scoring 13 unanswered to take a 24-point lead, 56-32, with 11 minutes to play. The run was highlighted by seven points from Colin Sareyka and a flying tip-in by Clippinger.
 
The Falcons would push their lead to the largest of the night, 28, on a triple from Eberle that made the score 70-42 at the 3:04 mark. A late three from BJ McHenry rounded out the scoring for Messiah, and they took a 73-53 victory.
 
The Falcons return to action next Wednesday, Jan. 18 at Lebanon Valley College. Tip is set for 8:00 p.m.