Grantham, Pa. – The Messiah men's basketball team won its first home contest of the 2021 season, topping Eastern University, 72-59. Senior forward Matt Glogowski led the Falcons in scoring with 16 points, reeling in seven rebounds. Joining Glogowski in double-digits scoring were freshman guard Arkese Claiborne and senior forward Will Young IV, each tallying 14 points.
 
Scoring At Will
Messiah had a phenomenal offensive performance in the opening half of play, shooting 53.1% (17-32) from the floor, while registering nine different scorers. Claiborne had the hot hand, draining 6-of-7 of his field goal attempts for a game-leading 14 points at the half.
 
The opening three minutes of the contest were high-scoring, as the Falcons jumped out to an 8-7 edge behind 3-for-3 shooting. Claiborne contributed five of the Falcons' first eight points, connecting on his first two shots of the night.
 
A three-pointer from Young, his first bucket of the game, at the 14:46 mark carved out a 13-9 lead for the hosts. A Dylan Cuperus layup broke a 20-20 deadlock between the two sides with 10:57 remaining, igniting a 13-2 Messiah scoring run. The Falcons shared the ball well during the scoring run as six different Falcons contributed points.
 
Messiah achieved its largest lead of the half, 38-24, after a jumper from Light with 4:27 remaining in the half. Eastern hung in tough in the remaining 4:27, outscoring the Falcons, 9-2. Despite the scoring run, Messiah led the Eagles, 40-33, heading into halftime.
 
As well as recording their second-highest first half scoring performance of the season, the Falcons played sound defense. The visiting Eagles were held to just 1-of-8 (12.5%) shooting from beyond the arc, as Messiah forced two shot clock violations.
 
Falcons Close Door
The Eagles began the second half with a layup just 50 seconds into the period, trimming their deficit to 40-35. Glogowski drained a three at the 18:21 mark to increase the Falcons' lead to 43-35, the bucket from the senior forward was the first of his 11-point second half scoring performance. Young and Coletti each connected on shots from beyond the arc, carving out a 49-37 Messiah lead with 16:22 left to play.
 
Freshman guard Christian Reames hit a jumper with just under ten minutes to play for his sixth point of the night. Leading, 59-45, the Falcons did not score until the 7:53 mark, with Glogowski scoring layups on back-to-back possessions.
 
Eastern clawed its way back into the game. The visitors rode a 6-0 scoring surge to pull within seven points, making it a 63-56 contest with just 2:55 remaining. Leading by as many as 16 points throughout the second half, the momentum of the game swayed in favor of Eastern, until a momentum-killing three-pointer from Young with 2:31 left on the clock silenced any chance of an Eagles comeback. The clutch triple put Messiah ahead, 66-56, closing the door on the game. The Falcons cruised in the final two minutes to a 72-59 decision, earning their first victory on Jordan Court since February 18, 2020 (84-78 vs. Lebanon Valley College).
 
The three-point shooting led the Falcons in the decisive second half, as Messiah connected on half of its attempts (4-8).
 
Notable Falcons
With a strong offensive performance from start to finish, the Falcons registered ten different scorers throughout the game. Claiborne tallied all 14 of his points in the first half, shooting an impressive 6-for-7 from the field. Young recorded his third game of the season scoring in double figures, draining 4-of-6 attempts from beyond the arc. Coletti, along with his seven points, dished out a game-high six assists. Messiah had strong contributions from its bench as well, scoring 17 points to the Eagles' five.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons (3-6) travel to Eastern University (0-7) tomorrow, Mar. 12, at 7:00 p.m. to square off against the Eagles to close out their 2021 regular season slate.