GRANTHAM, PA - The Messiah men's basketball team battled Hood on Tuesday night, but Hood used a dominant second half courtesy of Mason Wang's 34 points to put away the Falcons 69-54. Bryce Coletti led Messiah with 12 points on the evening. 

The loss takes Messiah to 9-12 and 7-8 in the conference. Their final game of the regular season will be on February 19, at 3:00pm in Chester, Pa. when they face the Widener Pride. 

First Half, Messiah leads 30-29
Bryce Coletti started off the scoring with a corner three and added another three along with an Arkese Claiborne layup in the first two and a half minutes to jump out to a quick 8-0 lead. That lead went up to 11 points at 18-7 with a little over 12 minutes to go. At the halfway point, Messiah led 20-13 and was shooting lights out from the three point line at an 80% clip (4/5). At the 4:34 mark, Hood had tied the game at 24. Evan Parker drilled a corner three as time expired to go into halftime with a 30-29 lead. The Falcons ended up shooting 40% from the floor and 50% from three. Hood shot 34% from the floor and a cold 23% from three attempting 17 in the half. Arkese Claiborne led Messiah scorers with ten while Mason Wang from Hood led all scorers with 12. 

Final, Hood Wins 69-54
The first five minutes were a tightly contested back and forth battle, with neither team generating a substantial lead. With 12:56 remaining, we saw our first timeout of the half courtesy of Rick Van Pelt as the score was knotted at 38. The next seven minutes of gameplay was dominated by Mason Wang from Hood. The Blazers proceeded to go on an 8-2 run to go up 46-40, with Mason Wang accounting for six of the eight. A Tyler Penley three made it 46-43 but that was the closest Messiah would be for the rest of the game. The Blazers used a 15-0 run late in the half, thanks mainly to Mason Wang to put the game away. Mason Wang accounted for 12 of those points with four threes on the way to a game high 34 points. Hood would go on to win the game 69-54. 

Final Stats
Messiah shot 39% from the floor in the game while Hood shot 43%. From three, Messiah went 8/21 (38%) whereas Hood went 10/33 (30%). Hood out-rebounded Messiah 35-32 on the night. As noted earlier, Hood's Mason Wang took over in the second half and ended the game with a game high 34 points. Messiah's Bryce Coletti led Messiah in scoring with 12 points. 

Up Next
The loss takes Messiah to 9-12 and 7-8 in the conference. Their final game of the regular season will be on February 19, at 3:00pm in Chester, Pa. when they face the Widener Pride.