READING, Pa. - After building an 11-3 lead early in the fourth quarter, Messiah men's lacrosse was able to withstand a late flurry of goals by Albright College and come away with a 12-8 victory on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Messiah improves to an impressive 6-1 in the MAC Commonwealth and 9-5 overall, while Albright falls to 2-4 in the conference and 4-9 overall.

Garrett Amsbaugh led the Falcons in scoring with three goals, his ninth game this season with at least three tallies, and added one assist. Hunter Bellows was the other Falcon with multiple goals, recording two along with an assist, and seven other Messiah players scored in the winning effort. Messiah outshot Albright by a wide margin of 40-24 (19-11 on goal) and picked up 11 more ground balls (45-34). Lucas Honebrink was once again exceptional in the face off circle, winning 18 of the 24 that he took.

The game started slow as neither team was able to score over the first six and a half minutes, before Cole Hinds snuck in a goal to give the Lions the lead at the 8:32 mark. Messiah countered with a man-up goal from the stick of Amsbaugh to even the score, but James Gorman tallied for Albright just before the first quarter buzzer to put the Lions on top 2-1 after the opening period.

The second quarter was a different story, as Amsbaugh, Cory Hurst, and Steven Dunn all scored in a span of a 87 seconds to give Messiah a 4-2 lead with 12:29 to play in the half. Brandon Hall brought the Lions back within one at the 5:59 mark, but Amsbaugh tallied again two minutes later as Messiah took a 5-3 lead into the break.

The momentum must have shifted in the Falcons' favor after that goal, because they came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter, outscoring the Lions 5-0 thanks to goals from Lorenzo DiPasquale, Bellows, Joseph Franken, Jaryn Ruth (first of the season), and Lucas Honebrink. A Mitch Salanty score just 16 seconds into the final quarter made it seven unanswered for the Falcons as they took an 11-3 lead.

Albright came alive after that, though, as the Lions scored five goals in a row to cut the deficit to just three with 3:30 remaining in the game. However, Messiah's defense locked down over the final few minutes, and Bellows added his second score of the game as insurance with 1:43 left as the Falcons went on to win by the final score of 12-8.

Messiah will now host Alvernia on Tuesday in the final game of the regular season. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.