GRANTHAM, Pa. - As the saying goes, it's very hard to beat the same team three times in one season. Messiah men's basketball fell victim to that in a very tough way on Monday night, falling in the MAC Commonwealth play-in game to Arcadia by a final score of 88-55. The Falcons had won both previous meetings with the Knights this season, 77-70 at home and 77-66 on the road.

With the loss, Messiah finishes the 2017-18 season with an overall record of 14-12, making the conference tournament for the first time since the 2013-14 season. Arcadia improves to 14-12 on the year, and will advance to face No. 1-seed Albright College on Wednesday in Reading.

For the Falcons, freshman Will Young IV had his best game in a varsity uniform, leading the team with 11 points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting and pulling down eight boards. In their final games on Jordan court, seniors Matt Hess and Neil Murren tallied nine points apiece.

Knights Come to Play
Arcadia had an incredible first-half, scoring more points in the opening period than Messiah managed to put on the board in the entire game. Just over six minutes in, the Knights had broken out to a 22-4 advantage as they made nine of their first 12 shots. Before the half was over, the Arcadia lead would extend to 27 as they led 57-30 at the break.

In the opening half, Arcadia shot 63% (24-of-38) from the field and 54% (7-of-13) from beyond the arc. In contrast, Messiah was just 2-of-12 (17%) from deep in the half.

The Lid Does Not Come Off
Messiah did not fare any better in the second-half, scoring 25 points on 8-of-35 (23%) shooting from the field and not making a three-point attempt in 14 tries. For the game, the Falcons were just 2-of-26 from the perimeter.

The Knights would lead by 36 before the evening was over, as they cruised to an 88-55 victory to advance to the MAC Commonwealth semifinal.

Despite dropping their last four games, Messiah still improved on last year's finish considerably by reaching the conference tournament. Picked last in the preseason coaches' poll, the Falcons exceeded expectations by a wide margin to finish the regular-season as the 4-seed and host tonight's play-in game for the program's first postseason action in four years.