FLORHAM, N.J. – The Messiah men's basketball team secured a victory in its final game of the 2021 season, a road victory over FDU-Florham, 66-57, on Thursday night. Freshman guard Bryce Coletti netted a team-high 14 points, with junior guard Caleb Light and freshman guard Evan Parker each joined him in double figures scoring (11).
 
The Devils opened the game on a 5-0 scoring run before a layup from Light at the 16:06 mark put the Falcons on the board for the first time of the game, making it a 5-2 contest. A jumper from Will Young IV at the 15:27 mark prompted a 5-0 scoring run for Messiah, tying the game, 7-7, with 14:14 remaining in the half.
 
The Falcons erupted for eight unanswered points to claim its first lead of the game, a 15-12 edge, following a triple from Parker with 11:31 left on the first half clock. Junior guard Tyler Penley notched back-to-back buckets for Messiah to take a 19-18 lead with 9:21 remaining, before Michael Healy cashed his first bucket of the game, a three-pointer at the 8:30 mark to increase the Falcons' lead to four (22-18).
 
The two sides traded punches in the final 7:44 as Messiah narrowly outscored the hosts, 8-7, to claim a 29-26 lead at the break.
 
During the first half, Parker led all scorers with nine points from 3-of-5 shooting from the floor. Light contributed eight points, connecting on half of his shots (3-6). Messiah was impressive from beyond the arc during the opening period of play, draining 4-of-9 (44.4%) attempts. The Falcons led for over half of the period (10:30), while shooting 38.5% (10-26) from the field.

FDU-Florham began the second half with a three-pointer, but Coletti began his stellar second half scoring performance just 48 ticks into the period, connecting on a jumper to build the Falcons' lead to 31-29. The jumper sparked an 8-0 scoring run for the Falcons, highlighted by a triple from Matt Glogowski. The scoring spurt left Messiah with an eight-point advantage (37-29) with 15:10 remaining, and would balloon to as many as 14 points after a jumper from Claiborne with just under six minutes (5:58) remaining in the contest.
 
The Falcons outscored the Devils, 20-13, during the 15:10-5:58 span. During the span, Messiah shot 8-of-13 (61.5%) from the floor. Messiah closed out the final six minutes of the game behind eight points from Coletti, as the team converted all eight of its free throw attempts. Holding FDU-Florham to 5-of-12 shooting during the span, the Falcons were able to clinch their final game of the season, topping the Devils, 66-57.
 
Messiah shot well in the second half, converting 11-of-24 (45.8%) shot attempts, going 13-16 (81.3%) from the charity stripe.
 
Notable Falcons
Coletti, to supplement his team-high scoring effort, went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line, drilling four of his five shots from the floor. Freshman guard Arkese Claiborne led the Falcons in rebounds, reeling in seven boards, matching a career-high mark. Parker drained three triples in his 11-point performance, while Light shot a serviceable 57.1% (4-7) from the field.
 
Messiah ended its season on top of the conference in team defense, allowing on average 73.4 points-per-game, as well as three-point field goal percentage, allowing opponents a 31.3% success rate from beyond the arc.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons conclude the 2021 campaign with a 5-6 overall record, going 4-1 in their last five matchups. Messiah, with an underclassmen-heavy roster, look to build on its young core ahead of the 2021-2022 campaign.