Reading, PA - Alvernia University pulled away late in the second-half to defeat Messiah men's basketball by a score of 75-68 on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Crusaders break a tie for fourth place in the MAC Commonwealth with the Falcons, improving to 7-5 in conference play and 13-8 overall. Messiah falls to 11-9 overall and 6-6 in the conference.
 
Josh Clippinger led Messiah with his third double-double of the season, recording 20 points and 11 rebounds. Rob McWilliams had 14 points and eight boards, and Colin Sareyka added 17 points and three assists off the bench. The Falcons shot just 5-24 (20.8%) from deep and 27-68 (39.7%) from the field.
 
The Falcons started cold from the floor in the game, falling in an early 8-0 hole after three minutes of play. Six-straight points by Messiah cut the lead to two, before Alvernia went on another run, 8-2 this time, to take a 16-8 lead at the 14:01 mark of the first-half.
 
Messiah then came alive, going on a 17-4 run, beginning with a Rob McWilliams jumper and a wide-open triple from Colin Sareyka. After a pair of McWilliams free throws, it was Nate Eberle this time with the big three from the left side to tie the game at 18. McWilliams gave the Falcons the lead on the next possession with a layup, and after Marquis Marshall tied it back up with a jumper, Sareyka hit a long three and Neil Murren made a jumper from the free-throw line to give Messiah a 25-20 advantage with 8:46 remaining in the half.
 
Sareyka hit another three two minutes later to bring the lead back to five, before Mike Miller and Anthony Hedgepath hit back-to-back triples for the Crusaders, giving them a 33-32 lead at the 5:29 mark. Alvernia and Messiah went back-and-forth throughout the rest of the half, and the Crusaders took a one-point lead into the break, 43-42.
 
Rob McWilliams led the Falcons at the half with 14 points and four rebounds. Alvernia shot 6-12 from deep in the opening period, compared to 4-14 for Messiah.
 
Clippinger and Matt Hess opened the second-half with back-to-back jumpers to take a three-point lead, but two layups from Alex Shippen put the Crusaders back on top by one after three minutes. At the 14:34 mark, Clippinger made a nifty left-handed layup to make the score 51-50 in favor of Alvernia, but the Crusaders would then score six unanswered to take a seven-point lead.
 
Luke Cable cut the lead back to four, 61-57 with a jumper from the left elbow at the 6:06 mark, but that was as close as the Falcons would get throughout the rest of the contest. Alvernia built a 10-point lead of 71-61 on an Alex Shippen layup with 90 seconds left. Messiah would attempt a late comeback, scoring the next five points on a Clippinger layup and Sareyka three, but it was too little, too late and the Crusaders took a 75-68 victory.
 
Marquis Marshall had a monster game for Alvernia, recording 22 points, 17 rebounds, and three blocks in the win. Despite going 0-11 from deep in the second=half, the Crusaders managed to shoot 30-60 (50%) from the field for the game. Four players played the entire 40 minutes for Alvernia: Marshall, George Williams, Alex Shippen, and Mike Miller.
 
Messiah stays on the road for their next game, traveling to Widener University on Wednesday, Feb. 8 for an 8:00 p.m. tip.