THOUSAND OAKS, Ca. - The Messiah men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking affair in overtime 92-90 in their opening matchup at the Cal Lutheran Tournament against the Bethany Lutheran Vikings. After trailing 41-38 at halftime, the Falcons found themselves in a hole in the second half, trailing 58-47. Messiah was able to fight their way back and were finally able to break through and tie the game on a Colin Sareyka three-pointer to tie the game at 75-75.

Messiah was able to take an 80-77 lead on the strength of a Josh Darville and-one. The Vikings fought to tie it back up at 80-80 before a Nate Eberle layup gave Messiah an 82-80 lead with just over a second remaining in the contest. After calling a timeout to get the ball to mid-court, Bethany Lutheran threw one off the back board before it bounced up into their hands and they hit a jumper with just 0.4 left on the clock to send us into overtime. 

The Falcons trailed 88-87 late in overtime and missed a few key opportunities to tie the game or take the lead at the free throw line before the Vikings took a 90-87 lead. EJ Porter then knocked down a huge three-pointer to tie the game at 90-90. With the clock ticking down, the Vikings were able to draw a late foul and hit both shots to make the score 92-90. This score would hold as the Falcons drop to 6-4 overall on the season, as they will be back in action on Monday in Thousand Oaks where they take on Cal Lutheran at a time to be announced. Messiah was led by Sareyka's 34 points in the contest as four Falcons recorded double-digit points. Josh Darville recorded his fourth double-double of the season, as he recorded ten points and eleven rebounds.

Getting Over The Hump
 As mentioned, the Falcons trailed 41-38 at halftime. Bethany Lutheran came out of the break on an 8-1 run to extend their lead to 49-39. They later grabbed a 58-47 advantage with 13:26 remaining in the second half. Messiah then proceeded to cut the lead to just one at 61-60 with a huge 13-3 stretch. Colin Sareyka led this flurry with seven points.

Sareyka hit a big three with 4:14 in the half to tie it at 75-75. The two teams battled it out down the stretch before a Nate Eberle layup made it 82-80 late in the game, but the Vikings were able to use a Brian Smith buzzer-beater to send the game to overtime at 82-82.
 
Overtime Battle
The Vikings and Falcons found themselves locked at 90-90 with just 17 seconds to play. Messiah missed a few late chances to take the lead before a late foul sent the Vikings to the free throw line. Bethany Lutheran knocked down both looks, and a last second heave was not to be for Messiah in a 92-90 loss.
 
Inside The Box Score
As mentioned, four Falcons recorded double-digit points in this one with Colin Sareyka recording his third game of 30 or more points after a 34-point showing. Nate Eberle had 16 points, EJ Porter had 13 while Josh Darville added 10 points.

What's Up Next
The loss drops Messiah to 6-4 overall as they will be back in action on Monday when they play Cal Lutheran.