Grantham, PA - The Messiah men's basketball team started 2017 on the right foot Wednesday night, picking up their first conference win, 72-65, over Stevenson University. Nate Eberle knocked down two big threes down the stretch and Josh Clippinger threw down an emphatic dunk with 70 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
 
The win was head coach Rick Van Pelt's 200th at the helm for Messiah men's basketball.
 
Clippinger led the Falcons with 23 points and five rebounds and Colin Sareyka continued his solid freshman campaign with nine points and eight assists. The Falcons and Mustangs had very similar numbers, with Messiah shooting 42.1% from the field to Stevenson's 42.9%, 68% from the free throw line to 66.7%, and the Falcons holding a slight edge in rebounding of 38-36.
 
Messiah and Stevenson began the game by trading baskets over the first few minutes until the 15:56 mark with the Mustangs up 9-6, when the Falcons started a 16-4 run that included seven points from Sareyka. The Mustangs responded with a run of their own, scoring the next seven to cut the Falcon lead to 22-20 with 6:40 remaining in the first-half.
 
Luke Cable then knocked in a pair of free throws to stop the bleeding, which was followed by triples from Clippinger and Logan Long to build a 30-20 lead with just under five minutes to go until the break. However, Stevenson kept fighting, decreasing the Falcon lead to five, 36-31, at the end of the opening period.
 
Kyle Wooldridge tied the game soon after halftime for the Mustangs, knocking in a triple and a layup to make it 36-36. Long answered with a three, but Stevenson tied it up again at 40 at the 16:53 mark.
 
Messiah regained the lead at 45-43, and then went on a 10-4 run to take their largest lead of the second-half, eight. It was keyed by a turnaround jumper in the lane from Josh Darville, a jumper by Rob McWilliams, and a pair of triples by Eberle both off sweet assists from Sareyka to make it 55-47 with ten minutes remaining.
 
 The Mustangs clawed back, cutting the Falcon lead to two, 58-56, at the 6:49 mark on a Korey Hayman Jr. steal and Christian Collins fast-break layup. Clippinger responded by scoring the next six points for the Falcons, who built the lead back to eight, 66-58, with 3:38 on the clock.
 
Tim McNeal cut the Messiah advantage to five with a free throw and a layup, but it was not enough, as with 70 seconds remaining, Clippinger sealed the Falcon victory with a thunderous one-handed slam off a pick-and-roll feed from Sareyka that brought the home crowd to its feet.
 
The Falcons would add four more free throws and take the game by a final score of 72-65.
 
Messiah returns to action on Saturday at home against Widener at 5:00 p.m.