The Messiah men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 63-62 contest on the road to Lycoming College Wednesday night. Despite trailing 38-29 at the break, Messiah outscored the Warriors 33-25 in the second half, but could not complete the comeback in Williamsport.

Colin Sareyka led Messiah with 20 points in the game while EJ Porter had 17 and a returning Matt Glogowski added four in his 2019-2020 debut. With the loss, Messiah drops to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in the MAC Commonwealth. They will be back in action at Hitchcock Arena Saturday night when they host the Alvernia Golden Wolves at 7:00 p.m.

Early Hole For Falcons
Lycoming knocked down an early three in this one before picking up a few buckets to take a 7-0 lead and force an early Messiah timeout. Ryan Hollis hit another three for Lycoming shortly after the timeout to give them a 10-0 lead and put the Falcons at an early disadvantage. With 15:53 left in the half, Colin Sareyka picked up the first bucket of the game for Messiah to cut the lead to 10-2. The Warriors continued their hot shooting from beyond the arc to begin the game with another three to make it 13-4.

Finding Their Rhythm
The Falcons began to settle into the game with an EJ Porter three. After the 10-0 run to start the game for the Warriors, the Falcons were able to cut the lead to just four at 16-12. This 12-6 Falcon run put Messiah right back in the game. After being out for the first seven games of the season with an injury, Falcon junior Matt Glogowski welcomed himself to Williamsport Wednesday night with a big three to give Messiah their first lead of the game at 17-16 and continue the Falcons momentum.

Warriors Keep Falcons At Bay
After the Messiah push, Lycoming found a quick 8-1 run to stretch their lead back out to 24-18. The Warriors continued to fend off the Falcons throughout the remainder of the half, as they held a 29-22 lead with 4:58 to play in the half.

Lycoming used a balanced attack to keep Messiah from the lead, as four players had five or more points in the first half. The Warriors took a 38-29 lead into the halftime break after shooting 44.8% from the field. Lycoming also shot 61.5% from beyond the arc, making eight treys in the half. The Warriors took the lead and kept it, only allowing Messiah to lead for 17 seconds in the first twenty minutes.

Messiah came out of the break with a modest 7-4 stretch to cut the lead to six at 42-36 before a D'Yante Doughty three pointer moved the lead back to nine at 45-36 with 16:57 to play. A quick bucket from Messiah forced a Warrior timeout with Messiah inching closer at 45-38. After a few chances to cut the lead to within seven for the Falcons, the Warriors had an answer every time. They used an 8-2 run to extend their lead to 53-40 and put pressure on the Falcons to respond with just 12:39 left in the contest.

Cutting The Deficit
The Falcons began to cut the lead down after trailing 55-42, they began what turned into a game-changing 19-4 run with a 6-0 charge to make it 55-48. Sareyka led the Falcon flurry with three points.

Out of a Messiah timeout, Nate Eberle kept the Falcons rolling, nailing a three to get to within just four at 55-51 and force a Lycoming break. The team traded threes out of the timeout to give Lycoming a 58-54 lead with just 6:03 to play. Messiah extended their run to 16-4 after a Porter three cut the lead to just one at 59-58.

Taking The Lead
Porter then knocked down his fourth three of the night to give Messiah their first lead of the second half at 61-59 with 3:49 left in the game. A Mo Terry layup tied the game back up at 61-61, as the game shaped up for a great finish.

A Falcon foul turned into two Warrior free-throws to make it 63-61. A make and miss by Messiah at the line and a Warrior shot clock violation gave Messiah the last opportunity while trailing 63-62. Sareyka drove in the lane and missed a layup, but Josh Darville got the rebound and was fouled, sending him to the line with just a second remaining. Darville missed both free throws and the Falcons fell 63-62.

Inside The Box Score
Both teams shot an identical 37.9% from the field in this one, but a key difference in the game came at the three-point line. The Warriors came into the game shooting 33.9% from downtown, but shot a solid 40.7% in the contest to Messiah's 33.3%.

What's Up Next
As mentioned, with the loss Messiah falls to 6-2 overall on the season and 1-1 in the MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons are right back in MAC Commonwealth action on Saturday night when they host the Alvernia Golden Wolves at 7:00 p.m.