READING, Pa. - The Messiah men's basketball team dropped an 84-70 game against the Alvernia Golden Wolves on Thursday night, falling to 1-4 on the season. Malik Green led Alvernia in their season opener with 26 points and 12 rebounds. For the Falcons, Messiah was paced by Will Young IV and Dylan Cuperus who each finished with 10 points on the night.
 
The Golden Wolves, in their season opener, got off to a hot start, never relinquishing their lead throughout the contest. Despite the strong offensive performance from the hosts, Messiah was equitable in their scoring throughout the first half. The Falcons had seven unique scorers in the half, led by seven points from Cuperus.

Cuperus, kickstarting his strong 10-point performance on the night, got the Falcons on the board just over two minutes into the game with a layup following a defensive rebound. Alvernia jumped out to a 12-2 advantage before Cam Carter, who contributed eight points in the first half, connected on a triple at the 13:24 mark. Carter continued to score, tallying the next three points on a layup and a made free throw. A three-pointer from EJ Porter moved the Falcons within single digits, 28-19, with 7:38 remaining in the half.

Messiah featured four different scorers in the final four minutes of the half, but trailed, 52-30 after Christian Reames scored on a buzzer-beating layup. Despite facing a large halftime deficit, the Falcons converted 11-of-14 first half free throws.
 
The Falcons began the second half on a 5-0 scoring run after Cuperus opened the half with a layup and Porter drained his second three-pointer of the night, cutting the deficit, 52-35. Caleb Light scored his first points of the contest at the 16:39 mark, as Messiah still trailed by 17 points. With just under 11 minutes remaining, Evan Parker, who scored seven points on the night, cashed a shot from beyond the arc to pull the Falcons to within 13 points, 62-49.

Messiah traded blows with the hosts for the following five minutes of gameplay. The Golden Wolves narrowly outscored the Falcons, 11-10, from the 10:27-5:29 span. During that span, Messiah shot 3-of-5 from the floor, led by buckets from Young and Light. The Falcons finished the game with a strong offensive effort. In the final 1:40, Messiah nailed three of their final four shots from the field, ending the game on an 8-2 scoring run. Parker and Coletti each contributed field goals in the final scoring run, but it was not enough as the Falcons were downed, 84-70.

Notable Falcons
In addition to matching the highest scoring effort for Messiah, Young reeled in a team-high eight rebounds. The senior forward shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe as the Falcons converted 19 of their 26 free throw attempts. Freshman guards Arkese Claiborne and Parker each shot 2-of-3 from the field, with Parker's shots all coming from beyond the arc. Overall, Messiah turned in 27 points from its bench, topping Alvernia's 15 bench points.

What's Up Next
Messiah (1-4) looks to get back in the win column tomorrow night, Feb. 26, when they host Alvernia (1-0) in Hitchcock Arena at 7:00 p.m. to round off the conference doubleheader.