Box Score

GRANTHAM, Pa. – Messiah outscored No. 19 Lebanon Valley 19-11 in overtime and the Falcons defeated the Flying Dutchmen 83-75 in Commonwealth Conference men’s basketball action Saturday evening at Brubaker Auditorium.

The Falcons (14-4, 4-3 CC) snapped a nine-game losing streak against LVC (12-4, 4-3 CC), which lost its third straight game. Messiah’s last win over the Dutchmen was a 95-72 win in Grantham five years ago to the date.

Dave Carter tied a game-high with 21 points, with eight coming in overtime, to go with a game-high five assists for the Falcons. Teammates Dave Henninger (13 points, 14 rebounds) and Jared Yoder (15 points, 12 rebounds) each posted a double-double, while Zach Wiernicki had 15 points.

Senior center Brad Stigelman paced the Dutchmen with a career-high 21 points while tying a career-high high with 11 rebounds. He also blocked four shots. Senior guard J.D. Byers added 17 points while sophomore guard Jimmy Curran recorded 17 points and seven rebounds.

Messiah out-rebounded LVC 52-33, including 21-5 on the offensive glass.

In the extra session, the Falcons held LVC to a Curran lay-up over the opening 3:51. In the meantime, Messiah outscored the Valley 12-2 to take a commanding 76-66 lead with 1:17 left.

The Falcons ended up scoring their final 12 points at the foul line.

Lebanon Valley jumped out to a 6-2 lead, with Stigelman scoring six straight for the Dutchmen, before the Falcons answered with a 12-0 run to go up 14-6. Messiah’s lead reached 11 (22-11) after a Quinn McCullough three-pointer with 9:30 left in the opening period.

LVC came back with a 15-6 run to make it a two-point game (28-26) following a Stigelman lay-up with 3:36 to go in the half. But Messiah outscored the Dutchmen 11-5 over the remainder of the period to take a 39-31 halftime lead.

An 8-0 LVC run midway through the second half allowed the Dutchmen to climb back into it. Byers scored the first six points of the run, and a Curran fastbreak lay-up tied the game (50-50) for the first time since it was 2-2. The Valley would tie the game four more times before the end of regulation, the last coming on a Stigelman jumper that made it 61-61 with 3:18 left.

Lebanon Valley took its first lead since early in the game when Stigelman layed in an alley-oop from Byers that put the Dutchmen up 63-62 with 1:51 to go.

Junior forward Dan Hogan made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:10 left, putting LVC on top 64-62, but Henninger put back his own missed shot with 47 ticks showing to tie it once again.

The Valley had a chance to go back in front in the final minute, but Byers missed a left-handed runner in the lane with under 30 seconds remaining. Messiah rebounded and had a chance to win it but senior forward Steve Buzinski blocked a Yoder lay-up seconds before the buzzer.

Lebanon Valley returns to action on Wednesday, when it visits conference front-runner Albright at 7 p.m.

[Photo - Senior center Brad Stigelman, who had 21 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks against Messiah on Saturday]

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