Annville, Pa. - The Messiah men's basketball team dropped a hard fought contest on the road to Lebanon Valley College, 74-67. Four Falcons scored in double-digits in the contest with EJ Porter leading the way with five threes and a game high 20 points. Kyle Krout added 12 points while Colin Sareyka and Nate Eberle both had 10 points, respectively. The Falcons made a season high 14 three pointers in the game.

After trailing by eight at halftime, Messiah found themselves with a lead almost halfway through the second half after a Jordan Criddle layup, but the Dutchmen were able to snatch the lead back and did not give it up for the rest of the game. After the loss, the Falcons drop to 8-9 on the season and 1-7 in the MAC Commonwealth. They will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Reading to take on the Alvernia Golden Wolves at 3:00 p.m.

Tough Start
The Falcons struggled from the field to start off against the Dutchmen, only converting on one of their first nine attempts as Lebanon Valley rushed out to a 9-2 lead. Caleb Light got Messiah out of their drought with a three pointer to make the score 9-5.

An EJ Porter trey briefly cut the Dutchmen lead to just one at 9-8 before a pair of free throws stretched it back out to 11-8. Four points from Joe Wright and Bryce Diehl helped produce a 15-4 Dutchmen run to make the score 24-12 with 7:51 remaining in the first half. Lebanon Valley continued to keep a steady lead in the first half, leading 29-15 with 4:35 left to force a Falcon timeout.

Working Back
Porter cut the lead to eight after a pair of threes made the score 29-21. Sam Whittle continued to cut into the lead with a jumper to make it 29-23 and stretch the Falcon flurry to 8-0. The two teams found several buckets at the end of the first half to make it a 35-27 Lebanon Valley lead at the break.

Messiah went into halftime shooting 37.9% from the field while the Dutchmen shot an even 50%. However, three EJ Porter treys helped Messiah shoot 45.5% from downtown compared to Lebanon Valley's 36.4% from deep.

Scorching Start To Second Half
A Kyle Krout three got Messiah rolling in the second half. This shot was followed by an EJ Porter layup and the 13-2 run was on for the Falcons. This stretch gave Messiah a 40-37 lead with 16:38 remaining in the game. Messiah held the lead as late as 47-45 with 12:24 left in the game.

Dutchmen Retake Lead
After the brief Messiah lead, Lebanon Valley was able to take it back thanks to a Luis Garcia layup that gave them a 49-47 advantage. They stretched this lead to 57-47 with 9:18 to go. A Colin Sareyka three ball got the Falcons back within five, but the Dutchmen were there to answer the call with a trey of their own coming from Mason Green.

The Falcons did not get any closer in the game as the Dutchmen grew their lead to as many as 12 points down the stretch. Lebanon Valley eventually came away with the 74-67 win.
Messiah outshot Lebanon Valley 44.12% to 40.63% in the second half, but ultimately it was not enough. As mentioned, Messiah made their most threes of the season in the game with 14, good for 43.8% from downtown.

What's Up Next  
The Falcons drop to 8-9 overall on the season and 1-7 in the MAC Commonwealth as they head to Reading on Saturday afternoon to take on the Alvernia Golden Wolves at 3:00 p.m. These teams first met up on Dec. 14 in Grantham where Alvernia picked up a close 69-64 victory over Messiah.