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Falcons Battle Valiantly Once More, Fall At Scranton 63-70
Senior Jason Miller carded a game-high 20 points Tuesday, but it wasn't enough to push Messiah to a win.

Scranton, PA — Another road game for the Messiah men’s basketball program, another near miss. Despite a gutty effort that helped the team to a 41-26 advantage in total rebounds and a 22-7 edge on the offensive glass, the Falcons dropped their fifth game of the season in a 63-70 score at the University of Scranton Tuesday night.

“We battled, we played hard but once again we couldn’t make enough plays to get it done on the scoreboard,” said Rick Van Pelt, Messiah head coach. “Scranton is a very good team. I wouldn’t be surprised if they become a ranked team at some point this year. They have size and good guard play. We knew it would be a tough test for us at their place tonight.”

Messiah (1-5) looked poised for an upset throughout the game’s first 20 minutes, as the team traded leads with the Royals on six occasions and tied the game four times. After Scranton (4-2) took an early 14-9 lead, Van Pelt’s team put on a 10-1 run to claim a 19-15 advantage, capped by a layup from senior Jason Miller at the 8:04 mark.

Scranton responded with an 11-4 run of its own to pull ahead by a 26-23 score at the break, though the Royals were held to just eight of 21 shooting from the floor (38.1 percent) and just 11 total rebounds. Messiah, meanwhile, finished 10 of 27 from the field (37 percent) with 20 total boards, including an 8-3 disparity on the offensive glass.

The tide would turn permanently in the latter part of the second half, as Scranton slowly pulled away. A three pointer from Miller gave the Falcons a 37-35 lead with 13:40 to play, but a long ball from Scranton’s Zach Ashworth would trump matters at the 13:14 mark.

From that point, Messiah would play a game of catch up. The Royals extended their lead to five points (46-41) with 9:18 to play, while the advantage ballooned to seven points (54-47) with 6:31 remaining.

Messiah would get no closer than four points over the game’s final four minutes of action, coming on a three pointer from junior Jamie Yoder at the 1:39 mark. An interior basket on Scranton’s ensuing possession pushed the hosts’ lead back to six, and the Falcons would get no closer than the final seven-point margin over the last 30 seconds of play.

Scranton’s second-half shooting (15 of 25, 60 percent) and free throw disparity (16 makes to Messiah’s 12 attempts) were the ultimate difference makers, as the Falcons attempted fewer charity tosses than their opponents made for the fifth time this season.

Miller led the way offensively for Messiah, scoring a game-high 20 points on eight of 15 shooting from the field. Yoder punched in 14 on a six of 14 effort, while junior Andy Hawk scored 11 to go with a game-high nine rebounds.

“We couldn’t get to the free throw line and we couldn’t finish our shots around the rim,” Van Pelt said. “I thought some of the younger guys provided us with some good minutes. (Sophomores) Colton Reitz and Josh Hartman played some real solid minutes. Maybe we can start to develop some depth. Our guys did play hard. We just didn’t get it done.”

Messiah will next participate in the Salisbury University Optimist Classic this weekend. The Falcons will play Randolph College Friday at 1 p.m. and host Salisbury Saturday night at 8 p.m. Both games will feature live stats.