Grantham, Pa. – The Messiah men's basketball team dropped another contest opposite Alvernia, 78-57, Friday night in Hitchcock Arena. Leading the Falcons in scoring was Jack Ramsey (13), Christian Reames (9), and Micheal Healy (8). Ramsey, with an offensive spurt in the final 2:50 of the game, tallied 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor. The scoring run featured the freshman guard flushing a one-handed dunk on a fast break following a steal on the defensive end.

Hanging In
Alvernia jumped out to a 10-0 advantage within the first five minutes of the game and a 13-2 lead with 15:30 to play in the first half. The Golden Wolves used some sharp shooting from beyond the arc, making six of their first nine three-pointers to lead 33-16 with 8:26 to play in the first half. Keon Taylor led the Golden Wolves during the early flurry with ten points, including two threes.
 
Messiah used a 10-3 run to cut into Alvernia's lead, making it 36-26 with 4:34 to play. The Falcons used some Alvernia foul trouble to spark the run, going 12-13 from the charity stripe in the first half. Messiah continued to close the gap, trailing just 39-34 in the final seconds of the first half before a late Keon Taylor three made it 42-34 at halftime.

The Falcons survived an 8-for-14 three-point shooting performance from the Golden Wolves in the first half. Messiah trailed by as many as 17 with 8:57 remaining in the half, but battled back to make it a single digit deficit at the break. Healy shined in the first half for Messiah, contributing seven points.

Late Surge Not Enough
Similar to the first half, Alvernia got off to a fast start to begin the second period of play. The Golden Wolves used a 12-0 scoring run in the opening 5:42 of the half to extend their advantage to 20 points, 54-34. Cam Carter halted the scoring run with a fast-break layup at the 14:18 mark, making it a 54-36 ballgame.
 
Alvernia continued its scoring ways, benefitting from a 20-8 scoring run that lasted nearly eight minutes, leaving the Falcons in a 29-point hole with just 3:38 remaining in the game. The highlight of the game for Messiah occurred with 2:22 left on the clock, when Ramsey recorded a steal on the defensive end, taking the basketball coast-to-coast and finishing on a one-handed dunk. The electric play was just one of Ramsey's four field goals in the final 2:50 of play, including a triple with 32 ticks left. The late offensive push led by Ramsey was not enough, as the visiting Golden Wolves prevailed, 78-57.
 
Notable Falcons
Ramsey, leading the Falcons in scoring, registered a career-high, more than doubling his previous career high (6). Messiah leaned on their freshman guards for scoring tonight, as the top three scorers were all freshman guards (Ramsey, Reames, Healy). Reames, who also tallied a career-high scoring effort (9), recorded three steals on the night. Cam Carter shot 5-for-6 (83.3%) from the free throw line, reeling in a team-high five rebounds.
 
The Falcons enjoyed offensive production from its bench, scoring 47 bench points opposite Alvernia's 20.

What's Next
Messiah (1-5) will seek to get back in the win column when they travel to Widener University (3-3) on Thursday, Mar. 4, at 7:00 p.m.