GRANTHAM, Pa. – On Saturday afternoon, the Messiah men's basketball team fell to Wilson College 69-62 to drop to 0-2 in the early season. The Falcons defense looked strong in the first half holding Wilson College to just 23 points, while Cole Fisher and Christian Jackson led the scoring to hold a 27-23 lead at the half. However, turnovers plagued the Falcons in the second half. Wilson College were able to capitalize off them, with the combination of a strong bench presence to down the Falcons 69-62 despite a good outing from Caleb Lyles, Cole Fisher, and Christian Jackson.  
 
Up Next
The Falcons will begin their five-game road trip at Shenandoah University Friday, Nov 15th.
 
How It Happened
First Half
The Falcons got off to a fast start jumping out to an early 11-2 lead. Caleb Lyles and Freddy Herbst accounted for eight of the 11 points. However, an 8-0 run from the Phoenixes brought them back into the game at 11-10. Over the stretch of three minutes, Wilson extended their lead to 19-13, holding Messiah to just two points. Following another Phoenix basket, Christian Jackson and Cole Fishers back-to-back threes would cut the deficit to 21-19 with 6:07 remaining in the half. That would than spark an 9-0 run from the Falcons to extend their lead to 25-21. The teams would split two points each to close out the half 27-23.
 
Second Half
Caleb Lyles would begin the second half with a deep three to extend the Falcons lead to seven. However, Wilson College would wiggle their way back into the game to grab a 35-30 lead over Messiah. Following a Phoenix layup, a split at the free throw line from Lyles and two threes from Johnson would tie the deficit to game up at 37-37 with 14:00 remaining in the game. However, over the next five minutes the Falcons would go cold. Wilson College was able to grow their lead to as large as 48-39 at the 9:37 mark. Over the next six minutes Fisher and Christian Jackson would pick up the scoring for Messiah but were unable to tie the game still trailing 60-56 with 3:54 remaining. Following two straight baskets from the Phoenixes', Johnson and Lyles would cut the lead to 62-59 with only two minutes left. Unfortunately, Messiah offense got cold at the wrong time, as Wilson extended their lead to 68-59 with 20 seconds left in the game. Despite a late three from Lyles, the damage was too much to overcome as Messiah fell to Wilson College 69-62 to close out the Messiah tip-off tournament.
 
Stats
Caleb Lyles finished the game with a team high 18 points and 10 rebounds. Christian Jackson would add a solid 14 points with six assists. Cole Fisher would round out the leader board with 11 points sinking three threes.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will begin their five-game road trip at Shenandoah University, Friday, Nov. 15th at 6:00p.m.