GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah men's basketball team capped off the 2018-19 season with a 77-64 victory over the visiting Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Thursday night on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena. EJ Porter went for a career-high 25 points, helping the Falcons pull away late for the 13-point victory.
 
Messiah led by just six points with seven and a half minutes remaining, but the Falcons closed out the game on a 26-9 run to claim their 10th victory of the season in their final contest of the campaign. Messiah finishes the 2018-19 season with a 10-15 overall record and a 6-10 mark in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
Colin Sareyka (14 points), Kyle Krout (13), and Will Young IV (13) joined Porter in double-figures.
 
Building an Early Lead
After Lebanon Valley broke the seal with a jumper by Zach Tucker on the third possession of the game to give the Dutchmen a 2-0 lead, Messiah rattled off 10-straight points and 15 of the next 17 to take a 15-4 lead just 6:15 into the game. Kyle Krout and Will Young IV highlighted the Messiah run with six and five points, respectively.
 
Krout made a layup to put Messiah on the board and three minutes later got the member's bounce on a three from the top of the key to build the Falcons' lead to eight at 10-2. Young battled for his points on the inside during the run with a pair of layups, converting one into a three-point play.
 
Battling Through the Half
Messiah's double-digit lead was short-lived. After Messiah held a 17-6 lead, the Dutchmen responded with a 13-0 run in just four minutes and following a Zach Tucker three, took the lead at 19-17.
 
The game remained close for the remaining nine minutes of the opening half, with Messiah holding a slight advantage throughout. The Falcons pushed their lead to as many as six points on three occasions at 28-22, 30-24, and 35-29, but Lebanon Valley ended the half with a three-point play from Justin Baker to pull within three heading to the break at 35-32.
 
After the break, the Dutchmen tied the tied the game with another three-point play, this one coming from Chris Anderson, on the first possession of the period. Messiah countered with a rare, four-point play from Kyle Krout, before Colin Sareyka knocked down a three to put the Falcons up seven at 42-35 less than two minutes into the half.
 
After building the seven-point cushion, Messiah's lead hovered between five and 10 points for the next 11 minutes. With just 7:32 remaining in the game, the Dutchmen trimmed the Falcons' advantage down to six at 61-55, but that was as close as they would get thanks to a run from EJ Porter and the Falcons.
 
He's on Fire!
With the lead trimmed to just two possessions, EJ Porter started a massive Messiah run by knocked down a three to turn the Falcons lead into a 64-55 advantage. Porter followed that triple with two more treys in the next two minutes to balloon the Messiah lead to 15 points at 70-55.
 
A Lebanon Valley free throw did little to slow the Falcons down, as Colin Sareyka drilled a three on the next possession and Porter made two free throws after an intentional foul in the open court. The free throws from Porter gave Messiah their largest lead of the game at 75-56 and Messiah cruised to the 77-64 to close out the 2018-19 season.