GRANTHAM, PA. - The Messiah men's basketball team trailed the York Spartans for 39 of the 40 minutes played on Wednesday night, but a key 10-0 run in the final minutes of play helped the Falcons to a 68-64 victory in their first game of the MAC Commonwealth slate. Arkese Claiborne kept the Falcons in the game, scoring 32 points, including 20 in the second half alone.
 
Evan Parker scored just three points on the night, but his go-ahead three in the final minute of play proved to be the biggest bucket of the evening. His three gave Messiah their first lead of the night with 52 seconds to play. The three came in the middle of a 10-0 Messiah run that gave the Falcons the victory to start the season 1-0 in conference play.
 
Messiah will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Widener to take on the Pride at 3:00 p.m.

First Half
York jumped out to a hot start, going 5-6 from the field and opening up a 12-2 lead early in the first four minutes. The Spartans held the lead for the rest of the half but the Falcons cut the lead to as few as two late in the half after a 9-2 run. An Arkese Claiborne layup in the final minute of the half made it a 30-28 game, but a York three in the final seconds gave the Spartans a 33-28 lead at the half.

Claiborne led the Falcons with 12 points at the half while Penley tacked on 11. The Falcons shot 46% from the floor in the first half (12-26) and shot 37.5% from three (3-8). After the hot start from York, the Spartans cooled down and proceeded to shoot 41% from the floor overall (13-31). York also went 5-16 from three.

Second Half
After the break, it was the Arkese Claiborne show as the junior guard kept the Falcons in the game with 20 points. The Falcons trailed for much of the half, but chipped away for the entirety of the period to make it a game down the stretch. It was Claiborne in the middle of the action for the whole half, hitting big shot.

The Spartans led by as many as 10 early in the half, but Messiah battled back, cutting the lead to one in the middle of the half on three occasions. Despite the fight, Messiah was unable to get over the hump until the final minute of play. In the middle of a 10-0 run, Evan Parker knocked down a three in front of the Falcons' bench to give Messiah their first lead of the game at 64-62. In the final seconds, Messiah took care of their free throws, earning a 68-64 victory to start the MAC Commonwealth season 1-0.

What's Up Next
With the victory, Messiah improves to 5-2 overall and start the conference slate 1-0. the Falcons will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Chester, Pa. to take on the Widener Pride at 3:00 p.m.