GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah men's basketball team found success on the road as they defeated Wilkes University, 67-64. With the win over the Colonels, the Falcons moved to 4-3 overall.
Messiah shot 24-of-57 (42.1%) from the field and 5-of-18 (27.8%) from three-point range. The Falcons and Colonels both collected 35 rebounds and Messiah gathered 11 steals on the afternoon.
Colin Sareyka once again led the Falcons with 28 points and added three assists.
Matt Glogowski was the only other Falcon in double-figures; he collected 11 points and five rebounds.
Josh Darville had a great defensive presence for the Falcons and secured 15 rebounds.
Messiah Found Their Rhythm
After an early basket for the Colonels, Messiah took charge and led for the rest of the half. The Falcons went on a 6-0 scoring run that started with
Neil Murren knocking down a pair of free-throws and then
Colin Sareyka driving coast-to-coast for an easy lay-in.
Josh Darville finished the Falcons run with a lay-up off of Murren's post feed.
The Colonels tried to slow Messiah's tempo down by implementing a full-court press, but Messiah handled the pressure with ease. Wilkes' Landon Henry tied things up (6-6) with a three-point shot, but then Messiah went on a 13-4 run to get a large (19-10) advantage midway through the first-half. The Falcons continued to be patient on offense and found success, they led 30-21 going into halftime.
As a team, Messiah shot 11-of-26 (42.3%) from the field and
Colin Sareyka led the Falcons with an outstanding first-half performance. He scored 15 of his 28 points and also collected two assists.
The Falcons' defense was very effective in the first-half. They held Wilkes to 21 points and caused 11 turnovers. Messiah also out-rebounded the Colonels 17-16 and
Josh Darville gathered eight of those boards.
Foul Trouble for the Falcons
The second half opened with a lot of back-and-forth action from both teams. However, Messiah found themselves in early foul trouble by picking up ten fouls in the first nine minutes of play. This gave Wilkes an opportunity to make their way back in the game. The Colonels began to chip away at Messiah's lead midway through the half and went on a 13-7 run to cut the Falcon's advantage to five points (45-40).
Messiah Turns Things Around
Matt Glogowski and
Colin Sareyka had two big possessions for Messiah and extended the lead back to eight points (48-40). These two impactful plays ignited a 17-7 run for the Falcons. With just under five minutes remaining,
Willie Hope stole the ball for the Falcons and finished a fast-break lay-up to give Messiah their biggest lead of the afternoon, 65-47.
Wilkes Doesn't Let Up Easy
The Colonels were trailing 18 points with less than five minutes to play, but they didn't give up. They started applying more pressure to the Falcons' offense and they starting hitting some big-time shots to keep them in the game. Wilkes went on a 15-0 run to cut Messiah's lead down to three points (65-62) with less than a minute remaining in the game. During the Colonel's scoring run, Messiah struggled to handle Wilkes' defensive pressure. The Falcons turned the ball over five times in the final five minutes of play, which allowed Wilkes to creep back in and almost win the game.
Falcons Secure Win No. 4
The Falcons were able to hold on for a 67-64 win after
Matt Hess and
Kyle Krout made clutch free-throws with under 15 seconds left in the game. Although the Colonels outscored Messiah 43-37 in the second half of play, the Falcons' solid first-half performance led them to victory. As mentioned earlier, Messiah moved to 4-3 on the season with their win over Wilkes.
Up Next
Messiah will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Arcadia University on Jordan Court. The game will start at 6:00 p.m. and the women's game will follow.