CHESTER, Pa. - Messiah men's basketball started the 2018-19 MAC Commonwealth schedule with a 73-62 victory over the Widener Pride on Wednesday night. The Falcons got off to a fast start in the first-half, taking a 41-24 lead at the break. That advantage was built thanks in large part to a 31-13 run in the final 14:10 of the opening half. During the massive run, seven different Falcons scored with Colin Sareyka (eight points), Will Young IV (six), and Sam Whittle (five) combining for 19 points. Messiah moves to 4-3 overall on the season and 1-0 in the MAC Commonwealth.

Colin Sareyka led all scorers with 25 points on the night on a 9-16 shooting performance. He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists to lead Messiah in both categories. Will Young IV joined Sareyka in double-figures with 10 points after a strong 5-7 effort from the floor.

From Start to Finish
Matt Glogowski got things started for the Falcons as he recorded the first two points of the game. Although the Pride answered right back with a jumper of their own, the Falcons added points from Josh Darville and Colin Sareyka to take a four-point lead. Messiah and Widener worked their way to a 10-9 game before enduring a scoreless minute that came to an end when the Pride took an 11-10 lead over Messiah. This would be the only time the Falcons would play from behind the entire game Messiah started their charge to take the lead with a jumper from Will Young IV and a three-pointer from Caleb Light to take a 15-11 lead. From there, Messiah went on a 10-0 run that was highlighted by three-pointers from EJ Porter and Colin Sareyka. With the 27-13 lead, the Falcons held the momentum for the last nine minutes of play in the first half, taking as much as an 18-point lead before the break.

Although the Falcons remained on top in the second half, the Pride was attempting to force their way back into the game. Messiah maintained a double-digit lead until just under 13 minutes to play when Widener cut the Falcons' lead to nine with 12:35 to lead. Less than a minute later, the Falcons had swiftly responded with back-to-back threes from Matt Glogowski and EJ Porter followed by a layup from Young to push their lead up to  58-41. In the last 10 minutes of play, the Falcons fought their way to a 20-point lead that was capped off by a layup from Sareyka. The late run from the Falcons was enough to hold off a 9-0 run from the Pride and give the Falcons the 73-62 victory.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back on the floor on Saturday when they travel to Penn State - Harrisburg at 3:00 p.m.