No. 7 Messiah 62, Lebanon Valley 51
 
LVC Starters
Lehr, Eck, Bamberger, Scarff, Mealey
 
Messiah Starters
Thornton, Isaac, Smoluk, Zimmerman, Rohrer
 
How It Happened
GRANTHAM, Pa. – Lebanon Valley was outscored 27-17 in the fourth quarter to allow No. 7 Messiah to pull away from the Dutchmen and win 62-51 on Thursday night in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Semifinal round. The Falcons improved to 25-1 and advanced to the championship game Saturday, while LVC's season ended at 14-13.
Down by two at 30-28 with 4:35 remaining in the third, Caroline Scarff made a layup to even the game at 30-30. After Kristen Smoluk's good free throw put the home team up 31-30, Megan Bisco's jumper with 3:45 left in the quarter gave the Dutchmen a 32-31 lead. The teams went back and forth in the final minutes of the quarter and after Emily Mealey's layup with 1:24 remaining, LVC was down by just one at 35-34 heading into the fourth.
 
To begin fourth-quarter action, the Falcons netted six straight to increase their lead to 41-34 with 8:13 to go. Mealey briefly stopped the run with a free throw, but Messiah then opened up a 12-point advantage at 47-35 with 6:55 left in the contest. Later, with 5:33 to go, Mealey's layup brought the deficit to eight at 47-39, but the Falcons finally started to find their groove and went up by as many at 15. Messiah was able to hold the Dutchmen off in the end and came away with a 62-51 win.
 
Both teams struggled to score in the early going as the Falcons held an early 7-4 lead with 3:58 left in the first. The home team later opened a 12-4 advantage, but Aley Abate cut the home team's lead to 12-6 with a late bucket in the first. In the second, LVC began the quarter on a 4-2 run to come to within four at 14-10 with 7:24 left. The Falcons then went up by eight at 18-10 with 6:27 to go thanks to a quick 4-0 run, but the Dutchmen answered with a huge 10-2 spurt, capped by Megan Bisco's 3-pointer on the fast break, to tie the game at 20-20 with 1:14 to go. Messiah then hit a trey, followed by a layup in the final seconds, but LVC was down by just five at 25-20 at halftime.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - LVC held Messiah to one of its lowest totals of the season (61 points).
 - Bisco poured in a career-high 16 points off the bench and added two steals.
 - Mealey went for 14 points and five rebounds.
 - Scarff scored six points and brought down a team-high seven rebounds while adding three steals.
 - Anne Lehr finished with a team-high eight assists and she added five boards.
 - Messiah was led by Alecia Rohrer who scored 19 points and had 12 rebounds.
 - The Falcons led slightly in total field-goal percentage at 35.2-percent to 35.1-percent.
 - Messiah went to the free throw line a total of 26 times and LVC went just seven times.
 - The Dutchmen held the edge in bench points at 21-13.
 - Messiah led in points in the paint at 30-20.
 
Stay Connected
Be sure to follow @lvcathletics on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage of LVC athletics.