CHESTER, Pa. – The Messiah men's basketball team closed out its 2021-22 regular season schedule with a road win at Widener University on Saturday afternoon, 54-49.
Arkese Claiborne led all scorers with 16 points as
Tyler Penley contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds. With the victory, the Falcons lock up the fourth seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament, hosting the fifth seeded Stevenson Mustangs on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena on Wednesday (Feb. 23) evening.
The victory improves Messiah's 2021-22 overall record to 10-12 (8-8 MAC Commonwealth).
Will Young IV and
Bryce Coletti notched the first two buckets for Messiah in the early going. Young recorded a layup as Coletti drained the squad's first three-pointer at the 18:05 mark, giving the Falcons an early 5-2 lead. The two sides traded buckets for the following five minutes as Messiah regained the lead (9-8) after
Matt Glogowski scored his first basket of the contest on a jump shot.
The next five minutes of the game were defining as the Falcons rode a momentous 17-4 scoring run, shooting 6-for-8 from the floor while using four different contributors. Penley tallied seven points during the scoring run while Claiborne contributed five points. With just under nine minutes remaining in the half, Messiah led Widener, 26-12, its largest lead of the period.
Messiah closed out the remainder of the half in strong fashion. In the final two minutes of play, the Falcons had two stellar defensive plays, one in which Coletti dove on the floor for a loose ball, and one in which Widener's Kenny Lewis was called on an offensive charge. At the break, Messiah led the Pride, 30-20.
Claiborne had a phenomenal first half, scoring nine points behind a perfect 3-for-3 shooting performance from the field. Penley also tallied nine points, converting on 4-of-5 attempts. The Falcons shot 48.0% (12-25) from the floor in the first half while Widener shot just 31.3% (10-32). The Falcons committed just three personal fouls, not allowing Widener to attempt a single free throw in the half.
Messiah and Widener traded buckets in the opening five minutes of the second half with the Falcons narrowly outscoring the Pride, 6-5. Young, Glogowski, and Claiborne all notched field goals during that span as Messiah led comfortably, 36-25, with under 15 minutes (14:52) left in the game. The Falcons' lead grew to as many as 14 points (41-27) after Glogowski drained a triple with 11:58 left on the clock.
In the following 5:37 of action, Widener recorded a dominant 14-2 scoring run to make it just a one-possession game with 6:08 remaining in the contest. The Pride shot an impressive 6-for-7 from the floor during the stretch, trailing the Falcons, 43-41. Messiah was on its heels, but scored five of the game's next seven points, highlighted by a three-pointer from
Evan Parker at the 4:42 mark to give the Falcons a five-point lead (48-43).
Back-to-back layups from the Pride trimmed Messiah's deficit to just one point (48-47) with 2:40 remaining. Widener had two open looks from beyond the arc in its following possessions, but were unable to get them to go. Messiah regained possession with just under one-minute remaining in the contest. The Falcons used every bit of their shot clock as Claiborne drilled a clutch three-pointer just as the shot clock buzzer was sounding. The triple gave Messiah a four-point, 51-47 advantage with only 38 ticks of the clock left. The Pride answered with a bucket off an inbound pass on the baseline, once again pulling within one possession (51-49). With only 22 seconds left, Penley was fouled, connecting on both free throws to grow the lead back to four points (53-49). The Pride had an empty possession after a missed three-pointer, putting Coletti on the free throw line. Coletti drained one of two attempts as the Falcons escaped Widener with the victory, 54-49.
What's Next
Messiah clinches the fourth seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament and will host the fifth seeded Stevenson Mustangs on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena this Wednesday, Feb. 23, at a time to be determined.