GRANTHAM, Pa. – On Saturday evening, the Messiah University men's basketball fell in an overtime thriller to the Pride of Widener University 90-89. The Falcons opened the strong and took an 11-point lead to the midway point of the second. The Pride battled back and cut the Falcons lead to 38-37 at the break. In a back-and-forth start of the second half, the Falcons took a six-point lead midway through the fourth. The Pride went on a big run to take an eight-point lead but the Falcons ended the with a 9-2 run, capped off by a Myles Herbert buzzer beater to send the game into overtime tied at 78. The two teams went back-and-forth in overtime, before the Pride hit a free throw with .7 seconds remaining to give Widener the 90-89 win. Caleb Lyles led the Falcons with 28 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Lyles also scored his 1,000th career point in the second half. Avery Kopcha scored 17 points. Myles Herbert totaled 13 points, six assists, and two steals. Johnny McBride added 12 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals.
 
Up next, the Falcons host the Eagles of Eastern University on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7:00 p.m.

First Half
After some back-and-forth play to start the game, the Falcons went on a 10-2 run to take a 15-8 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. Caleb Lyles led the Falcons with five points and Miles Longacre added a three for Messiah during the run. After a pair of baskets from the Pride, the Falcons went on an 8-0 to extend their lead to 11 with 11 minutes remaining in the half. The run started with a Johnny McBride basket and ended with a pair of free throws from Jordan Edwards-Saliu. The Pride then responded with an 8-2 run to cut the Falcons lead to five with nine minutes remaining in the first. After a pair of McBride free throws, the Pride went on a 9-3 run to pull within one, but a three from Avery Kopcha cut the Prides' run and the Falcons went up by four with just under four minutes remaining in the first half. The Pride outscored the Falcons by three in the final three minutes to reduce the Messiah lead to 38-37 at the break. The Falcons end of the half scoring was highlighted by a floater from Freddy Herbst.
 
Second Half
The Pride opened the second half, outscoring the Falcons by two in the first three minutes to take a two-point lead. The Falcons early scoring was highlighted by a dunk from Johnny McBride. The Pride then pushed their lead to four with a 10-7 stretch with 14 minutes remaining in the game. The Falcons took the lead back with an 11-1 run with 10 minutes remaining. Myles Herbert started the run with a layup and Caleb Lyles ended the run with a pair of free throws. The Pride then went on a 14-0 run to take a 70-62 lead with five minutes remaining in the game. After some back-and-forth play, the Falcons ended the game with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 78. The run was capped off by a step back buzzer beater from Myles Herbert to send the game into overtime.
 
Overtime
The two teams opened overtime trading baskets, with Caleb Lyles and Johnny McBride each scoring for the Falcons. The Pride quickly went on a 5-0 run to take a lead with two minutes remaining in overtime. The Falcons answered the short run with a three from Miles Longacre to cut the deficit to two. After trading baskets and a free throw from the Pride, Caleb Lyles was fouled and tied the game at 89 with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining. With .7 seconds remaining in the game, the Pride got fouled and hit the game-winning free throw to earn the 90-89 win.
 
Stats
Caleb Lyles led the Falcons with 28 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Lyles also scored his 1,000th career point in the second half. Avery Kopcha scored 17 points. Myles Herbert totaled 13 points, six assists, and two steals. Johnny McBride added 12 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. Miles Longacre tallied 11 points. Freddy Herbst totaled six points, nine rebounds, and two blocks. The Falcons shot 41.3 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from behind the arc. The Pride shot 46.1 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from three.
 
Next
The Falcons host the Eagles of Eastern University on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7:00 p.m.