Grantham, PA – Matt Hess calmly took the pass on the left wing from Rob McWilliams, pump-faked to get his defender into the air, took one dribble to his right, and rose up and drained a go-ahead three-pointer with three seconds left that gave Messiah men's basketball an electrifying 68-67 victory over Lebanon Valley College on Saturday.
 
After Josh Clippinger put the Falcons up by three on a free throw with 2:33 left in the game, LVC senior guard Travis Conrad knocked down two deep triples in a span of 32 seconds to give the Dutchmen a lead of three. It was eerily similar to last year's disappointing home defeat at the hands of LVC with Conrad knocking down huge shots down the stretch, but the Falcons would not give in this time. After an empty possession for Messiah, Conrad pulled up for another three, but this one caromed off the rim for a long rebound at the top of the key that was grabbed by Logan Long, who fired a pass ahead to a breaking McWilliams for a layup that cut the deficit to one with 1:15 remaining.
 
Sam Light would miss a layup for the Dutchmen, but then the Falcons could not capitalize as Colin Sareyka turned the ball over in the midcourt. Conrad was then fouled and drained both free throws, but then Sareyka made up for his miscue by driving down the left side of the lane and finishing the tough, contested layup to again cut the lead to one with 26 seconds remaining. Messiah put Light, an 80% free-throw shooter, at the line, where he went 1-2 to make the score 67-65 in favor of LVC with 10 seconds left.
 
It was then time for Hess to be the hero, knocking down the triple in the corner and sending the largest home crowd of the year for the Falcons into a frenzy. The Dutchmen were unable to get a shot off in the final three seconds, giving Messiah the thrilling 68-67 win.
 
The victory was huge for the Falcons in the MAC Commonwealth standings and playoff picture, keeping pace at one game back of Alvernia and Widener, who both won tonight, for the fourth and fifth, and final, seeds in the tournament.
 
Rob McWilliams led Messiah in scoring with 15 points, while also chipping in four rebounds and four assists. Hess had 11 points and Sareyka added 10 to round out the double-figure scoring for the Falcons. With Clippinger in foul trouble for much of the game, freshman Josh Darville had the best game of his young career, scoring eight points (6-6 from the charity stripe) and grabbing five boards.
 
Messiah pulled out the win despite not having a great game from beyond the arc, which is usually a strength, only going 5-17 (29%). However, they outrebounded LVC 37-30, and had a major advantage in points off turnovers: 23-8.
 
The game was very back-and-forth in the early going, as the Falcons held a one-point lead of 18-17 at the 10:19 mark. Nate Eberle came off the bench to drain a deep three, Sareyka knocked down a pair of free throws, and Luke Cable hit a jumper to cap a short 7-1 run to put Messiah up by seven.
 
Lebanon Valley would cut the lead to four on a triple from Caleb Barwin with just under two minutes remaining in the half, but the Falcons responded with a layup from Darville and a jumper by Hess to take an eight-point lead, 43-35, into the break.
 
Hess opened the second period with another jumper to push the lead to 10, but then the Dutchmen would go on a 10-2 run to make it 47-45 at the 15:03 mark. Messiah grew their lead back to eight with 11 minutes to play on two layups from Sareyka and two foul shots by Darville, but LVC would not go down quietly.
 
The Falcons still led by three, 55-52, at the 7:06 mark, but then Sam Light knocked down a jumper and a layup to give the Dutchmen the lead. Back-to-back layups from Logan Long for Messiah and Ricky Bugg for LVC followed by a free throw by Cable knotted the game up at 58 with four minutes remaining.
 
Messiah held LVC scoreless over the next two minutes, and Cable hit a jumper and Clippinger knocked down a free throw to give the Falcons a 61-58 lead. That was when Conrad decided to step up for the Dutchmen, hitting his two threes that set up the wild finish.
 
Lebanon Valley was led by Light, who scored a game-high 17, five points below his MAC Commonwealth-leading average of 22. Fellow star Andy Orr recorded 15 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 2:35 to play.
 
The Falcons stay at home for their next game, looking to avenge a loss to Hood earlier this season. The game against the Blazers, which is Senior Night for Clippinger and Cable, is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 8:00 p.m.