Williamsport, PA - Messiah men's basketball shot 61.5% (16-26) from deep en route to a 91-80 upset victory over MAC Commonwealth leaders Lycoming College on the road Wednesday evening.
 
The Falcons' hot shooting existed throughout the contest, as they poured in nine threes in the first-half and seven more in the second. Messiah also shot 55% from the field and 81% (17-21) from the foul line in the win. Despite being outscored in the paint by a whopping 24 points (42-18), the Falcons more than made up for it from behind the three-point line, as Lycoming only made seven threes compared to Messiah's 16, which equates to a scoring margin of 48-21 in Messiah's favor. The sixteen three-pointers made by the Falcons is a new program record for Messiah men's basketball, breaking the previous mark of 15 that they had tied earlier this season in a win over Elmira College.
 
Logan Long scored a career-high 24 points, including going 6-8 from beyond the arc. Colin Sareyka also had one of his best games of the season, going 4-7 from deep and scoring 17 points to go along with eight assists. Josh Clippinger added 15 points and six boards, and Rob McWilliams was also scorching from the three-point line, going 3-4 and scoring 13 points on the night.
 
The stunning victory was the first time this season that Messiah has won a game in which their opponent scored more than 66 points, and their first road win since Dec. 16 at Lancaster Bible College. It was also tied for the Falcons' second-highest scoring output of the year, as they also tallied 91 in the season-opening win over Clarks Summit University and scored 98 in the victory over Elmira.
 
With the win, Messiah avenges a loss to the Warriors in November when the Falcons, much like this game, jumped out to a big lead, 45-33, at the half but could not hold Lycoming down and fell by a score of 87-75. Long was also red-hot in that game, making five triples. The Falcons improve to 9-8 overall and 4-5 in the MAC Commonwealth, while Lycoming takes just their second conference loss, falling to 8-2 in the Commonwealth and 16-3 overall.
 
Tonight's first-half began much the same as the last time these two teams played, with Messiah, Logan Long specifically, shooting the lights out. After buckets from Lycoming's David Johnson and the Falcons' Josh Clippinger tied the game at two, Logan Long erupted for three triples on consecutive possessions for Messiah, building an early 11-4 lead at the 15:53 mark.
 
The Falcons would temporarily go cold and not make a basket for three and a half minutes, but made up for it on the defensive end by blanking Lycoming as well. Neil Murren broke the drought with a three from straightaway, and after two Warrior baskets, Clippinger took the feed into the post and got fouled on a layup for an and-one, sinking the free throw to give Messiah a 17-8 lead with just over ten minutes to play in the half.
 
Lycoming responded with six unanswered, before Clippinger put an end to that run with a layup, followed by another triple by Long. TJ Duckett cut the Falcon lead to 22-19 with a three at the 5:40 mark, but that was when Messiah went on a 19-9 run to close out the half that included three triples from Rob McWilliams and another bucket from deep by Colin Sareyka.
 
The Falcons took a 41-28 lead into the break, shooting 48% overall but 65% (9 of 14) from deep. Long led Messiah with 16 points, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, and McWilliams had nine points, three boards, and three assists in the opening period.
 
Lycoming came out strong in the second-half, cutting the Falcon lead to four with an 11-2 run to make it 43-39 at the 16:25 mark. Messiah went back up by nine on a Sareyka triple with 14 minutes left, but the Warriors trimmed the lead back down to four on a jumper from Darius James and a three by Willie Kee. On the next Falcon possession, Lycoming's suffocating press appeared to force a Falcon turnover, but Neil Murren dove to the floor to save the ball and shoveled a pass forward to Josh Darville at halfcourt. Darville immediately turned and raced to the rim for the layup and the foul, knocking down the free throw to complete the three-point play and push the Messiah lead to 53-46 with 12:38 to play.
 
After a three-pointer from TJ Duckett cut the lead back to four on the next Warrior possession, Messiah responded with a 16-4 run over the next five minutes. The run was made entirely by Luke Cable and Colin Sareyka, as they each scored eight points, including two triples apiece. The 69-53 lead was Messiah's largest of the game, 16.
 
Lycoming stopped the bleeding with a quick 6-0 run of their own that including an impressive fastbreak jam by Chris Wallace. However, Logan Long quickly put an end to that, knocking down his fifth three of the game and then getting an easy layup after the Falcons broke the Warrior press.
 
After a pair of buckets from Clippinger pushed the Falcon lead back to 14, 78-64, with just under four minutes left in the contest, Lycoming scored seven quick unanswered points in 56 seconds to cut the lead to 78-71. The Warriors still had not learned their lesson, though, as they left Long open yet again for another triple, his sixth, to extend the Messiah advantage back to 10 at the 2:18 mark.
 
A layup by Willie Kee and a pair of free throws from David Johnson brought Lycoming within six, but that was as close as they would come, as Messiah went 10-12 from the free throw line over the last minute and a half to win by a final score of 91-80.
 
David Johnson led the Warriors with 19 points on 8-13 shooting, and Willie Kee added 13 points and four steals. Chris Wallace had 13 points and seven boards, while TJ Duckett rounded out Lycoming's double-figure scorers with 14, including four threes.
 
Messiah will look to keep the momentum going this Saturday when they host Arcadia University at 5:00 p.m.