GRANTHAM, Pa. – In a tight battle with the Albright Lions, the Messiah men's basketball team opened their MAC Commonwealth slate with a 63-62 victory on Tuesday night. The Falcons were in the driver's seat for a majority of the contest but had to hold on over the final few minutes as the Lions made things interesting.
 
Arkese Clairborne had to knock down an inbounds pass in the final second to preserve the Falcons' conference opening victory.
 
Will Young IV led four double-digit scorers on the evening, dropping 17 points while Matt Glogowski (14 points), Evan Parker (12), and Arkese Claiborne (10) all joined him with 10-plus points. Young also snagged a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Messiah moves to 1-0 in the conference and advances to 3-3 overall this season. The Falcons will be back in action on the Monday after Thanksgiving break when they travel to Penn State Harrisburg.
 
Falcons Take Halftime Lead
The Falcons started off hot with 10 points in the first 3:11, helping them to a 12-4 lead early in the opening half. Will Young IV led the Falcons during the first four mintues of the game, netting a pair of buckets. Albright picked things up after their slow start, going on an 8-3 run during a three-minute span to pull within three. Evan Parker was the lone bright spot for the Falcons during the Lions' run knocking down a three.
 
Matt Glogowski emphatically ended the Albright run by floating down the middle of the lane for a two-handed slam off a drop off pass from Parker. The dunk put the Falcons back up by five and a triple on the next possession from Parker gave the Falcons their eight-point lead back at 20-12 with 11:19 remaining in the half.
 
A quick 6-0 run for Albright cut the lead down to four after a floater from Zyon Grant with 9:19 remaining in the half. Over the next five minutes, the two teams combined for just three buckets from the field. Parker hit a three and Colletti made an and-one layup as Messiah took a 26-18 lead.
 
In the final minute of the half, Tyler Penley hit a three off a feed from Evan Parker to give the Falcons their largest lead of the game at 32-23 as the game turned to halftime.
 
Closely Contested Second Half
The Lions came out fighting in the second half, scoring eight of the first 10 points of the half to pull within three at 34-31. Sidney Brown connected on a pair of threes after the Lions were shutout from beyond the arc in the opening period, going 0-14.
 
Messiah swiftly responded with an 8-1 run to take a 42-32 lead with 14:46 remaining in regulation. Arkese Clairborne scored four on the run as the Falcons built their lead back to double-digits.
 
After Albright pulled with a half dozen following buckets on consecutive possessions, Messiah went on an 8-2 run to take their largest lead of night at 50-38. Matt Glogowski led the burst with a three and a driving layup.
 
Over the next two and a half minutes, Albright scored the next 10 points to pull within a bucket. A technical foul resulted in a four-point possession at the end of the run that made it a one-possession game.
 
The contest stayed close over five minutes with Messiah taking a six-point lead after back-to-back buckets from Will Young IV at 54-48. A 10-3 run brought the Lions back and with 4:10 remaining, Albright took their first lead of the game at 58-57 with a layup from Jordan Guerrero.
 
After trading buckets, Messiah held a 63-62 lead with 1.4 seconds. Albright had a full court inbounds pass to try and win the game. After multiple timeouts, Arkese Clairborne knocked down the inbounds pass and the Falcons held on for the 63-62 victory.
 
What's Up Next
With the win, Messiah opens the MAC Commonwealth slate with a victory and moves to 3-3 overall on the season. The Falcons will be back in action on Nov. 29 when they travel to Penn State Harrisburg for a non-conference game.