FREDERICK, Md. – After holding a six-point halftime lead, Messiah men's basketball was outscored by 27 in the second period as they fell to Hood College 70-49 on Wednesday night.
 
Needing just one win to clinch a playoff berth for the first time since the 2013-14 season, the Falcons could not get anything going on the offensive end in the final 20 minutes, only putting 13 points on the board after halftime. Jump to the bottom section of this article for complete Falcon playoff scenarios.
 
Colin Sareyka led Messiah on the night with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including five triples. Neil Murren also had five threes, all in the first-half, for 15 points, and Josh Darville notched yet another double-digit rebound game with 10 boards.
 
Living by the Three
After Hood opened the game on a 7-0 run, Messiah exploded for 16 unanswered points that included three triples from Neil Murren in addition to one from Colin Sareyka to take a 16-7 lead with 11 minutes to play in the first-half. The Falcons' next four buckets also all came from the perimeter as Murren and Sareyka drained two more apiece. In the first 20 minutes, Messiah was 8-of-13 (61.5%) from deep with Murren going 5-of-8 and Sareyka 3-of-3. By contrast, the Falcons only put up seven shots inside the perimeter in the first-half, making four.
 
When Messiah was not dropping in triples, Hood's defense was very active in the passing lanes as they created 16 Falcon turnovers in the opening half, keeping the score close. With two and a half minutes to play in the opening period and Messiah up by four, Will Young IV came off the bench and provided some quality minutes as the freshman managed to find the holes in the Blazers' zone defense and record a pair of layups. A pair of Blazer free throws would cut the lead to six, and that would hold until halftime as Messiah went into the locker room on top 34-28.
 
Tale of Two Halves
As hot as the Falcons were from the perimeter in the first-half, the second-half was the complete opposite as Messiah made just two of their 16 attempts from deep over the final 20 minutes.
 
Despite the shooting woes, Hood also struggled mightily initially in the half as Messiah pushed their lead to 10, 40-30, just over four minutes into the second period. However, the Blazers would come alive on their Senior Night, as they proceeded to score 12 unanswered points to take a two-point lead with 12:04 to play.
 
With nine minutes left the score was even at 46, but the Falcons would only make one more shot throughout the rest of the game (Sareyka triple with 5:14 to go) as Hood was firing on all cylinders for a 24-3 run to close out the contest.
 
Next Up
Messiah will look to reserve a spot in the MAC Commonwealth tournament when they go for the season sweep of Lebanon Valley on Saturday. The Falcons knocked off the Dutchmen at home back on Jan. 17 by a score of 74-69.
 
Playoff Picture
The playoff picture now gets incredibly interesting in the MAC Commonwealth with one game remaining in the conference slate. For Messiah, it can be just as simple as a win over Lebanon Valley on Saturday and they would be in as the 3-seed, holding the tiebreakers over LVC and Arcadia via season sweeps.
 
However, if the Falcons lose to the Dutchmen, they could end up anywhere from fourth to sixth, with only five teams making the postseason. Arcadia and Messiah are currently tied for fourth and Alvernia and Widener just one game back and tied for sixth. The Golden Wolves and Pride face each other on Saturday, so one will be out of playoff contention regardless of the outcome.
 
Each of the following scenarios spell out what happens if the Falcons lose on Saturday:
 
If Arcadia wins, the Knights will be the 4-seed and the 5-seed will go to either the Alvernia/Widener winner or Messiah. Tiebreakers are decided via record vs. the teams at the top of the conference in order, starting with the 1-seed. This is where it gets even more interesting. Albright and Lycoming are currently first and second in the conference, and they face each other on Saturday, with the winner claiming the top seed. If Albright wins, Messiah will earn the 5-seed over the Alvernia/Widener winner due to the Falcons being the lone team out of those three with a victory over the Lions this season. If Lycoming wins that game and Widener defeats Alvernia, the Pride will get the 5-seed and Messiah would be out, because Widener owns a victory over Lycoming that the Falcons do not have. If Alvernia defeats Widener, Messiah earns the 5-seed, because Alvernia does not have a win over Lycoming or Albright.
 
If Arcadia loses, there will be a three-way tie for the 4-seed between Arcadia, Messiah, and the Alvernia/Widener winner. Messiah holds the tiebreaker over Arcadia due to a season sweep of the Knights and, as mentioned previously, the Falcons also hold the tiebreaker over Alvernia due to the Falcon win over Albright, so if Alvernia defeats Widener on Saturday, Messiah is the 4-seed. If Widener defeats Alvernia but Albright beats Lycoming for the 1-seed, that win over Albright grants the Falcons the 4-seed. However, if Widener wins and Lycoming defeats Albright, then Messiah still has the tiebreaker over Arcadia, and Widener would have the tiebreaker over Messiah due to their Lycoming win, but Arcadia completes the circle with the tiebreaker over Widener due to also owning a win over Lycoming but holding a win over Albright that Widener does not have. In instances like this with a three-way tie and tiebreakers unable to solve seeding, records against the other two opponents in the tie determines placing. Since Messiah is 3-1, Widener 2-2, and Arcadia 1-3 against the other two teams in the tie, the Falcons would receive the 4-seed.