St. DAVIDS, Pa. – On Saturday evening, the Messiah men's basketball team dropped their final game of the season to Eastern University 86-65. The Falcons got themselves in a hole early, unable to overcome the double-digit deficit in the first half. Messiah would end up entering the break trailing 43-27. To begin the second half, the Falcons got off to a great start cutting into the Eastern lead. Following a few setbacks, Jackson caught fire to will the Falcons within seven points, followed by a Ben Wert three with 12 minutes to go to come to as close as five points of the lead. However, following that big run, Eastern would begin to pull away not looking back to take down the Falcons in the final regular season game of the year.
 
First Half
The Falcons found themselves down early, as the Eagles jumped out to a 12-4 lead through the opening five minutes. However, Christian Jackson and Jordan Edwards-Saliu scored four unanswered to cut the lead to four. Over the next seven minutes, the Falcons were outscored 15-5, as the Eagles opened up a 14-point 27-13 lead. Cole Fisher would break up the run with a layup to cut into the lead, followed by points from Johnny McBride, Caleb Lyles and Jackson, to keep Messiah in the game, trailing 32-20 with five minutes to go. After an Eagle basket, Ben Wert would knock down a three to bring Messiah within 11. However, the Eagles would go on a small run to re-extend their lead to 16. To close out the half, McBride would score the Falcons last four points to enter the break down 43-27.
 
Second Half
Messiah got off to a strong start to begin half number two, with points from McBride, Jackson, and Lyles to bring the Falcons within 11 (45-34). However, over the next four minutes, the Eagles would dominate in the paint to extend their lead to 54-37. Jackson would catch fire over the next three possessions for Messiah, knocking down three straight threes, including an and-one free throw to will the Falcons within seven points, trailing 54-47. Following a quick Eagle free throw, Wert got involved from beyond the arc to knock down a long three, to bring Messiah within five points with 12:22 remaining. Over the next six minutes, both teams traded points, but the Eagles still did just enough offensively to hold a 72-61 lead with 5:40 remaining. From that point on the momentum had been shut down for Messiah, as Eastern went on to close out the game outscoring Messiah 14-4 in the final five minutes to take down the Falcons 86-65.
 
Stats
Christian Jackson led the Falcons with 20 points, shooting 7-14 from the field, and 3-4 from beyond the arc. Ben Wert added an additional 13 points, knocking down three threes as well. Johnny McBride tallied 12 points with a team high six rebounds, tied with Jordan Edwards-Saliu who picked up six himself.