GRANTHAM, Pa. - Neil Murren dropped in a career-high 27 points including seven three-pointers to lead Messiah men's basketball to a 68-51 victory on Thursday night over visiting Widener University. Murren went 10-of-16 from the field and 7-of-12 from deep for the Falcons, as Messiah shot 53.6% (15-of-28) from beyond the arc as a team.
 
The Falcons improve to 14-8 overall and 8-5 in the MAC Commonwealth, while the Pride drop to 12-10 on the year and 5-8 in the conference. With the win, Messiah is now tied for third-place in the MAC Commonwealth with Arcadia University, but hold the tiebreaker via a season sweep of the Knights. With three games remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Falcons need just one more win to clinch their first MAC Commonwealth tournament berth since the 2013-14 season.
 
As hot as Messiah was from the perimeter, Widener was the opposite, only make 4-of-22 (18.2%) from deep and 50% (5-of-10) from the free throw line. Messiah's defense was as good as it's been all year, forcing 19 Pride turnovers and holding Widener to six points below their previous season-low in scoring of 57, and a whopping 23.9 below their season average of 74.9 points per game.
 
To go with Murren's career night, Nate Eberle also had a career-high with 19 points including 4-of-7 from deep. Matt Hess made all three triples that he took and finished with 11 points, while Colin Sareyka dished out seven assists and Josh Darville pulled down 14 rebounds. The trio of Murren, Eberle, and Hess recorded 57 of Messiah's 68 points.
 
Not 1, Not 2, But 3
The Falcons got going from deep right away, as four of their first five made baskets were from beyond the arc (Murren x2, Hess, Eberle) as they took a 14-7 lead less than five minutes into the game. Messiah cooled off a bit over the next five-minute span, as Widener went on an 11-2 run to pull ahead by two, 18-16, with 10:48 to play in the opening period.
 
Another triple, this time from Colin Sareyka, ended the streak for the Pride, and over the next seven minutes the Falcons received two more threes from Murren and one from Eberle as they built a 10-point lead, 35-25, with three minutes left in the half. Widener scored six unanswered points to end the period, but Messiah led 35-31 on nine made triples as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
 
Falcons Fly Away
Messiah opened the second-half with seven unanswered points, capped by a Hess three, to take an 11-point lead, 42-31, with 16:34 to play. After a Widener bucket just over a minute later, Murren nailed his sixth triple of the contest to put the Falcons up by 11 once more, and the lead would not dip below double-digits for the remainder of the game.
 
Messiah reached their largest lead of the contest with 4:31 to play as Eberle nailed yet another shot from the perimeter to put the Falcons up by 18, 66-48. Only five more points would be tallied between the two teams before the final horn sounded, as the Falcons outscored the Pride 33-20 in the second-half to take the 68-51 victory.
 
Next Up
Messiah's next game is a big one as they host MAC Commonwealth No. 2 Albright on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The Falcons had perhaps their most incredible game of the season the first time around against the Lions, as Colin Sareyka converted a four-point play with three seconds left to lead Messiah to a 101-100 triple overtime victory on the road.