CARLISLE, Pa. – The Messiah men's basketball team fell just one-point short on the road at Dickinson College on Wednesday night, losing by a narrow score of 55-54. Arkese Claiborne registered a game-high 23 points while Will Young IV earned a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds).
 
The Falcons had a chance to notch a game-winning bucket in the final possession of the game, trailing, 54-55, but the Red Devils prevailed with strong defense against a left-handed layup attempt from Caleb Light.
 
Claiborne, after dropping a career-high 28 points on Saturday afternoon, led the Falcons in scoring in the first half with 10 points. The sophomore guard drained 2-of-4 attempts from beyond the arc as Messiah trailed the Red Devils heading into the break, 26-23.
 
The Falcons claimed an early lead (3-0) when Claiborne connected on a three-pointer for the opening bucket of the contest. Dickinson fought back, building a lead of 14-9 before a 12-2 scoring run for Messiah turned the tide in the game. The Falcons earned themselves a 21-16 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the half, capped off by a triple from Evan Parker.
 
The Red Devils answered with a scoring run of their own, claiming 10 of the last 12 points scored in the half to take a 26-23 halftime lead.
 
Claiborne began the second half of play emphatically, throwing down his second dunk in as many games to trim the Messiah deficit to one point (26-25). The two sides proceeded to trade buckets before a made three-pointer from Justin Glover gave the hosts a 36-31 lead with just under six and a half minutes gone in the second half.
 
Dickinson built its lead to as many as 10 points (41-31) with 12:02 remaining on the clock. The Falcons battled back, trimming to deficit to just four points after a Matt Glogowski made layup made the score 42-38 in favor of the Red Devils. Young IV tallied his 11th and 12th points at the free throw line, converting back-to-back attempts to pull the Falcons within three points (48-45) with just 5:41 remaining.
 
Claiborne made a stellar defensive play with only 2:14 remaining, jumping a passing lane to make a steal, finishing the fast break layup on the other end to bring Messiah within a two-point deficit, 54-52. The Falcons made another stop on the defensive end, sending Young IV to the line to cash consecutive free throws to tie the game at 54-54 with 1:11 remaining.
 
The Red Devils connected on a free throw to take a one-point lead, 55-54, with 46 seconds left. The hosts had the ball with just 16 seconds left with a chance to seal the victory, but Andrew Gostovich caught a pass in the corner with his heel on the sideline, turning the ball over to the Falcons for a chance to win the game.
 
Following two timeouts to build the tension, Messiah was unable to muster the game-winning basket despite a strong effort from Light. The Senior guard made a good drive to the hoop using his left hand, but was matched with great defense from the Red Devils. Messiah dropped the close road decision, 55-54.
 
The loss drops the Falcons record to 1-3 overall. Despite the loss, Messiah had eight different players contribute points. Glogowski, who is returning to form following an injury to begin the season, matched a season-high in rebounds (7).
 
What's Up Next
Messiah (1-3) returns to Hitchcock Arena on Saturday afternoon, hosting Wilkes University for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off.