WINCHESTER, VA. - In the men's basketball season opener at Shenandoah, the Falcons used an explosive first seven minutes of the second half to earn their first win of the season beating the Hornets 68-61. The Falcons opened up the second half on a 24-2 run and would hold off multiple Hornet attempts to rally over the back half of the second half to prevail and get their first win of the year. 

Tyler Penley had a double-double on the night with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Claiborne and Parker added 15 and 13 points respectively. Coletti tied for the team lead in rebounds with 11 as well. 

First Half
Both teams got off to a slow start with the Falcons shooting under 40% in the first 15 minutes of action and only generating 13 points before the Hornets opened up the scoring with under five minutes to go. Shenandoah went on a 12-2 run to take a 23-15 lead before Fisher made a jumper to try to stop the run. The Hornets added a three and ended the half with a 26-17 lead going into the break. The Falcons finished 8-26 from the field (30%) and made one three-pointer on three attempts in the first half. 

Second Half
The Falcons came to play in the second half, mainly Evan Parker who rattled off two three-pointers and a jumper to cut the deficit to one at 25-26 before the Hornets had to call a timeout. It sparked the rest of the Falcon offense though as Arkese Claiborne and Tyler Penley chipped in and gave the Falcons a 33-28 advantage which prompted another Hornet timeout. In the first seven minutes of the second half the Falcons exploded on a 24-2 run going 10-11 from the field and 3-3 from three. For the next two minutes, it was Shenandoah who found their grove, going on a 10-0 run to pull within three at 41-38 to force a Rick VanPelt timeout. The rest of the second half remained in control by the Falcons as they held a nine-point lead with under two to go in the game. The Hornets cut the deficit to seven with 50 seconds, then five after a Messiah missed free throw and then three after another missed free throw. Coletti knocked down two from the stripe to get the lead back to five. Falcons would win the game 68-61.

Stats
After that cold first half, the Falcons ended up shooting just under 50% for the game, with an impressive 64% mark in the second half alone. The Falcons shot 27-55 (49%) from the field and 6-13 (46%) from three in the game. Tyler Penley led the Falcons with 17 points and added 11 board for the double-double. Arkese Claiborne added 15 points and Evan Parker had 13 on the night. Coletti added 11 boards on the night as well. 

Up Next
The win gives the Falcons a 1-0 record on the year as they will host Penn State Abington this Friday, November 11 for the Messiah Tip-Off Tournment slated for this weekend in Grantham, Pa.