Matt Henninger led the Falcons (11-4 overall, 5-0 Commonwealth) with 14 points while Ryan Witmer came off the bench to add 10 points and nine rebounds as Messiah withstood a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer after leading by seven points with 36 seconds to play.
Joel Patch led the Crusaders (10-6 overall, 2-3 Commonwealth) with a game-high 16 points and 11 rebounds while Kevin Cuff added 13 points and six boards, but Susquehanna could not overcome 36 percent shooting (18-for-50) or 22 turnovers in suffering back-to-back losses for the first time this season.
An 8-0 run in the final two minutes of the first half gave the Falcons a 27-19 halftime lead, but Susquehanna went on a 12-2 run early in the second half to move ahead 34-31 following a three-point play by Cuff with 13:50 to go.
The teams swapped the lead several times during the middle stages of the second half, before Messiah went ahead for good at 45-44 on a basket by Jared Yoder with 3:54 to go. The Falcons stretched their lead to 54-47 with 36 seconds to play, but a three-pointer by Bryan Majors and two foul shots by Patch brought the Crusaders back to 54-52 with 5.6 seconds remaining.
After a free throw by Henninger with four seconds left gave the Falcons a 55-52 lead, Susquehanna had a final chance to tie but a 25-footer at the buzzer caught the side of the rim.
Majors finished with eight points and four steals in 25 minutes of action for the Crusaders while freshman Marcus Burke came off the bench midway through the second half and tallied four points, three rebounds and three steals in just 10 minutes of time.
Yoder battled early foul trouble and finished with 11 points and four rebounds for the Falcons, who shot 38.8 percent (19-for-49) from the field and drilled seven three-pointers in 24 attempts including three by Henninger, but committed 25 turnovers as a team.
MESSIAH 55, SUSQUEHANNA 52 MESSIAH (11-4, 5-0 Comm.) Matt Henninger 4-11 3-6 14; Jared Yoder 5-6 1-1 11; Ryan Witmer 3-7 4-5 10; Darryl Brown 2-5 1-2 6; Jason Miller 2-6 0-0 5; Andy Hawk 2-3 0-0 5; Drew Sneeringer 1-6 1-2 4; Jonathan Boyd 0-3 0-1 0; Bo Miller 0-2 0-0 0; Kyle Snyder 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 10-17 55. SUSQUEHANNA (10-6, 2-3 Comm.) Joel Patch 7-10 2-2 16; Kevin Cuff 4-15 3-3 13; Bryan Majors 3-5 1-1 8; Zac Smith 1-5 2-2 5; Marcus Burke 1-2 2-5 4; Brad Okonak 1-4 0-0 3; Andy Gaebel 1-5 0-0 3; Brandon Andersen 0-1 0-0 0; Todd DeNapoli 0-1 0-0 0; Chad Cohle 0-1 0-0 0; Moose Marshall 0-1 0-0 0; Sam Thomas 0-0 0-0 0; Matt McDevitt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-50 10-13 52. Messiah....................... 27 28 - 55 Susquehanna................... 19 33 - 52 3-point goals-Messiah 7-24 (Matt Henninger 3-7; Andy Hawk 1-2; Darryl Brown 1-2; Jason Miller 1-4; Drew Sneeringer 1-5; Jonathan Boyd 0-3; Jared Yoder 0-1), Susquehanna 6-19 (Kevin Cuff 2-6; Zac Smith 1-4; Andy Gaebel 1-5; Brad Okonak 1-2; Bryan Majors 1-1; Moose Marshall 0-1). Fouled out--Messiah-Ryan Witmer, Susquehanna-None. Rebounds-Messiah 38 (Ryan Witmer 9), Susquehanna 32 (Joel Patch 11). Assists-Messiah 10 (Drew Sneeringer 4), Susquehanna 7 (Kevin Cuff 2; Bryan Majors 2). Total fouls-Messiah 15, Susquehanna 21. A-625