GRANTHAM, Pa. - Messiah men's basketball overcame a slow shooting start with great defense throughout as they defeated Stevenson University 64-57 on Wednesday night in Hitchcock Arena.
 
Tonight's game was the first time all season that the Mustangs have been held under 60 points, and also the first time that senior Danzel Wright (second in the conference at 22.7 ppg) did not score in double figures this year. The low-scoring affair was quite different than the matchup between the Mustangs and Falcons in Owings Mills, a game in which both teams scored over 20 points and Wright tallied 28 points in a Stevenson victory. It was the Colin Sareyka show tonight, however, as the sophomore poured in a game-high 26 points to avenge the loss to the Mustangs earlier in the season and lead Messiah to victory.
 
Josh Darville also added 14 boards as the Falcons outrebounded the Mustangs 37 to 32. Messiah shot 44% (22-of-50) from the field and 41.2% (7-of-17) from deep, while Stevenson was 38.1% (24-63) from the field and just 22.2% (6-of-27) from three. Messiah also went an impressive 13-of-14 (92.3%) from the free throw line, all coming in the second-half.
 
Messiah improves to 13-7 overall and 7-4 in the MAC Commonwealth, while Stevenson dropped their seventh contest in a row to fall to 10-11 on the year and 2-10 in the conference. With five games remaining in the regular season the Falcons keep hold of the fourth spot in the MAC Commonwealth standings, just a half-game back of both Lebanon Valley and Albright.
 
Stumbling Out of the Gates
Both teams struggled mightily over the first 14-plus minutes of the opening period, as Messiah only managed to score 12 points but only trailed by seven, 19-12, with 5:42 to go in the first-half.
 
However, the Falcons closed the half strong, outscoring the Mustangs 14-4 over the last five minutes to take a three-point lead into the break, 26-23. Highlighting the Messiah run was back-to-back triples from Matt Glogowski followed by buckets from Sareyka on the last three Falcon possessions of the half.
 
Grind it Out
Stevenson took the lead back with a quick 7-0 run to open the second-half, and the game would go back-and-forth over the next 10 minutes, staying at the slow pace that Messiah often favors. With the Mustangs up 47-43 and 7:42 remaining on the clock, Sareyka proceeded to take matters into his own hands and go on an 8-0 run of his own capped by a three from straightaway to give Messiah a four-point lead.
 
After a bucket on the other end from Keith Moody, a layup from Josh Darville made it 53-49 in favor of the home team with just over four minutes left in regulation. Over those final four minutes, Messiah made just one shot from the field (a twisting layup from Sareyka with a foul) but went a perfect 9-9 from the charity stripe to maintain the lead and come out on top, 64-57.
 
Next Up
Winners of six of their last seven games, the Falcons will look to keep their momentum going when they travel to Alvernia University on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. tip. Back in December, Messiah hosted Alvernia and came away with a 77-66 victory.