CHESTER, Pa. - The Messiah men's basketball team fell in a thrilling matchup on the road to Widener University Wednesday night, 79-74. The Falcons found themselves down 46-28 at halftime and 70-47 in the second half but fought all the way back to cut the lead down to just one at 74-73. However, The Pride were able to hang on down the stretch to pick up the victory.

Messiah was led by EJ Porter and Josh Darville as they both had 14 points. Darville picked up his fifth double-double of the season after grabbing 13 rebounds. This loss drops Messiah to 8-5 overall on the season and 1-3 in the MAC Commonwealth. They will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they face-off with Arcadia University at 3:00 p.m.

Getting Off To A Good Start
The Falcons were able to get out to a very quick start, scoring seven points in just 49 seconds to start the contest, with Kyle Krout leading the way with five quick points. This gave the Falcons the early 7-4 advantage, but the Pride battled back to tie the game up at 9-9.

Scoring Drought For Both Sides
After both teams got off to a good start offensively, both teams stalled for a few minutes with neither team able to produce a basket. Both teams struggled with turnovers early on, as Messiah had six and Widener had five with 13:04 left in the first half.

The Pride were the first ones to break the scoring drought with a Steven Matlack layup to make it 11-9 and force a Falcon timeout. Matlack pushed the Pride lead to five after a three-pointer made it 14-9.

Pride Fending Messiah Off
After a Falcon drought that saw them go scoreless for just over six minutes, a Will Young IV dunk got Messiah back on track before a Josh Darville layup helped cut the lead to 16-13. The Falcons got to within just one after a Krout jumper made it 18-17, but a foul on a three-pointer put Widener at the line where they converted all their free throws to make it 21-17.

The Pride continued to hold off the Falcons by taking advantage of Messiah turnovers and turning them into points on the other end. The difference in the first half came when the score was 18-17 in favor of Widener. The Pride were able to manufacture a 28-11 run throughout the remainder of the first half to make it 46-28 going into the break, giving themselves all the momentum in the game.

First Half Struggles
At the break, the Falcons were shooting 36.4% from the field and just 14.3% from beyond the arc. On the other side, Widener shot a lights out 56.3% from the field, while shooting 50% from the three-point line.

Pride Hang On To Lead
At the start of the second half, Widener was able to pick up right where they left off in the first half, knocking down shots to keep Messiah at bay. The Falcons came out shooting well, outscoring the Pride 16-14 throughout the beginning of the second half, but Widener did not let up.

Messiah shot 8-12 from the field in the first seven minutes of the half, but the Pride stuck right with them at 7-12 from the field. This made the score 63-47 with 12:36 left in the game. The Pride had an even split in point scoring, with four players in double figures with 11:01 left in the game.

Cutting Down The Lead
After trailing 70-47, the Falcons used a 15-2 flurry to make the score 72-62 with 7:53 remaining in the game. Two EJ Porter threes cut the lead down even further to just four points at 72-68 with 3:45 remaining. The Falcons continued to extend their run to 26-4 after a Darville layup and a Porter three got them to within a point at 74-73.

Down To The Wire
The Pride found a bucket to make it 76-73 with 2:04 left in the game. Messiah had a chance to tie the game with 20 seconds remaining, but a Falcon three was off the mark and forced Messiah to foul. The Pride made one of two at the line to make it 77-73.

Messiah then found themselves at the free throw line, where they converted one of two free throws to make it 77-74 with just five seconds remaining. The Pride then went to the line, where Jared Peters knocked down both attempts to make it 79-74 and seal the win for the Pride.

What's Up Next
The Falcons find themselves right back in MAC Commonwealth action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Glenside, Pa. to take on the Arcadia Knights at 3:00 p.m.