Salisbury hit only 36.7% (11-of-30) from the field and 0-of-7 from behind the three-point arc in the opening half as the Sea Gulls dropped off the pace early. Rico Stewart scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to secure the comeback for the Gulls (5-4).
Segun Odumeru connected on 8-of-12 from the field and led Salisbury with 17 points, to go along with four boards. Justin Rice added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and Ray Williams dropped in six points and Derrick Washington scored five points.
The Sea Gulls were kept off the boards, finishing with 26 rebounds, compared to 39 for the Falcons.
Zach Wiernicki paced Messiah College with 18 points, to go long with nine boards. Quinn McCullough scored 13 points and had four rebounds. Steve King scored 11 point and had five rebounds.
The Falcons hit 13-of-31 field goals (41.9%) in the first half and held a 21-17 rebounding advantage to open up an early lead.
Messiah won the game despite Salisbury turning the ball over just 10 times, while the Falcons committed 18.
The Sea Gulls will close out the 2005 portion of their schedule Saturday when they host Capital Athletic Conference foe York College at 4 p.m. at the Maggs Center.
Salisbury vs Messiah 12-6-05 8:00 PM at Grantham, PA At Grantham, PA MESSIAH 69, SALISBURY 56 SALISBURY (5-4) Segun Odumeru 8-12 0-0 17; Rico Stewart 5-8 1-2 12; Justin Rice 5-9 1-1 12; Ray Williams 2-13 2-3 6; Derrick Washington 1-4 3-3 5; Kyle Harmon 2-6 0-0 4; Jeremy Kincaid 0-1 0-0 0; Dameon Gibbs 0-0 0-0 0; Gary Ward 0-2 0-0 0; Marcus Crenshaw 0-0 0-0 0; Darren Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-55 7-9 56. MESSIAH (5-2) Zach Wiernicki 7-14 4-4 18; Quinn Mccullough 4-8 2-5 13; Steve King 4-11 0-0 11; Dan Snyder 3-5 2-2 9; Drew Sneeringer 1-2 3-4 6; Jared Yoder 2-5 1-2 5; Matt Henninger 2-5 1-2 5; Ryan Tiplady 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-52 13-19 69. Salisbury..................... 28 28 - 56 Messiah....................... 35 34 - 69 3-point goals-Salisbury 3-13 (Rico Stewart 1-1; Justin Rice 1-3; Segun Odumeru 1-3; Derrick Washington 0-2; Ray Williams 0-4), Messiah 8-20 (Quinn Mccullough 3-6; Steve King 3-6; Drew Sneeringer 1-2; Dan Snyder 1-2; Matt Henninger 0-2; Jared Yoder 0-1; Zach Wiernicki 0-1). Fouled out--Salisbury-None, Messiah-None. Rebounds-Salisbury 26 (Ray Williams 6), Messiah 39 (Zach Wiernicki 9). Assists-Salisbury 6 (Kyle Harmon 2; Derrick Washington 2), Messiah 5 (Matt Henninger 2). Total fouls-Salisbury 19, Messiah 14.