WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Messiah Men's Basketball team opened the 2025-26 season tonight, going on the road and beating the Bison of Gallaudet University, 85-71.
 
The Falcons held a 24-23 lead just over 10 minutes into the first half, before building an 11-point lead going into the half, up 46-35. Messiah kept the lead the entire second half and pulled away late after an offensive surge from the Bison, winning 85-71. Caleb Lyles and Johnny McBride each had a double-double for Messiah, with Lyles having 22 points and 12 rebounds, and McBride adding 12 points and 15 rebounds.
 
Up next, the Falcons have their home-opener against the Blue Jays of Elizabethtown College on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m.
 
First Half
Gallaudet took a quick 4-0 lead, but a three from Ben Wert started an 8-0 Falcons run, with Messiah up 8-4 with 17:31 left in the half. The Falcons lead stayed at four at the midway point of the first half, with Messiah leading 21-17. During this stretch, Myles Herbert, Ben Wert, and Avery Kopcha all made three-pointers for Messiah, while Miles Longacre added two layups in the paint. Gallaudet cut the Falcons lead all the way down to one-point at the 8:55 mark in the half, but Messiah dominated the rest of the way, with the lead getting up to 15 points after a three from Caleb Lyles with 3:02 left in the half. Johnny McBride added four points to finish out the half, as the Falcons led 46-35 at the break.
 
Second Half
Ben Wert started the half with a layup to extend the lead to 13, but Gallaudet responded with a six-point run to cut the Messiah lead in half with 16:51 remaining. The Bison continued to cut into the Falcons lead, with a couple baskets making it 50-45, Messiah. Messiah went on a six-point run of their own to get the lead back up to 11, at 56-45. However, Gallaudet responded well again, getting the lead back down to five points with 10:10 left in the half. Caleb Lyles finished at the rim to make it 62-55, but Gallaudet kept pushing, draining a couple baskets to make it 62-59 with 7:38 remaining. The teams began trading baskets, with Gallaudet getting within two-points of Messiah, trailing 65-63 with 5:20 remaining. However, the Falcons would outscore the Bison 20-8 in the last five minutes, closing out the 85-71 win. During this stretch, Caleb Lyles added nine points and Avery Kopcha drained two three-pointers to help Messiah pull away.
 
Stats
Caleb Lyles and Johnny McBride each had a double-double for Messiah, with Lyles having 22 points and 12 rebounds, and McBride adding 12 points and 15 rebounds. Myles Herbert added 12 points with a team-high eight assists. Miles Longacre had 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Ben Wert added 10 points, while Avery Kopcha added nine points, going three for six from behind the arc. The Falcons shot 46.7 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three. The Bison shot 40.5 percent from the field and 14.3 percent from three