The loss drops Moravian to 7-15 overall and 5-6 in conference play with three games to play. The Greyhounds likely will need to win all three road games in the final week of the season to make the postseason. Messiah improves to 18-4 overall and 8-3 in Commonwealth action.
The teams would trade the lead for the first few minutes of the game with the game tied at 6-6 at the 16:43 mark of the first half. The Greyhounds went on a 9-0 run to take at 15-6 lead with 15:07 left in the first half. Moravian would hold the lead for the remainder of the first half with Messiah cutting the deficit back to one point at 25-24 with 7:53 before the intermission.
The Greyhounds had a 38-34 lead at halftime after shooting 16 of 29 (55.2 percent) from the floor with four three-pointers and a two-for-three performance at the foul line. Messiah made 14 of 31 (45.2 percent) first half field goal attempts with four three-pointers and a two-for-two performance at the foul line.
Moravian would extend its lead to eight points at 45-37 with 16:47 remaining in the game before Messiah started its comeback. The Falcons went on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 48-48 with 12:45 left. Messiah took the lead for good on a free throw by Jared Yoder at the 12:17 mark for a 49-48. Moravian pulled within three points on several occasions in the final 11 minutes of the game but could not retake the lead.
Messiah made 11 of 26 field goals (42.3 percent) in the second half with five three-pointers and a 16-for-24 performance at the foul line. Moravian would made 11 of 27 field goal attempts (40.7 percent) in the game's second 20 minutes with three three-pointers and an eight-for-14 performance at the foul line. Messiah also had a 37-31 advantage on the boards in the Falcons win.
Moravian had just two players in double figures led by a game high 23 points by senior forward Brandon Zaleski. Zaleski, who is now within 20 points of becoming the all-time leading scorer in Moravian history, also had seven rebounds and two assists. Junior forward Steve Wenderfer added 21 points and a team high eight rebounds to go with two assists and two steals.
Junior guard Ed Reid had nine points and three rebounds while freshman guard Ryan Miller and sophomore guard Michael Clemente each scored five points for the Greyhounds. Miller had three assists while freshman guard Justin Chestnut had six assists and three points for the Greyhounds.
Messiah had a balanced scoring attack led by 18 points, ten assists and four rebounds by Dave Carter. Quinn McCullough tossed in 15 points and added three rebounds for the Falcons while Yoder had 11 points and six boards.
Matt Henninger contributed ten points and three rebounds while David Henninger and Zach Wiernicki each scored eight points for the Falcons. David Henninger had a team high eight rebounds while Steve King added seven points and six rebounds in the Messiah win.
Moravian will return to action on Tuesday, February 15th in a Commonwealth Conference game at Albright College tipping off at 8:00 p.m. in Reading while the Falcons return home to host Elizabethtown College on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. in Grantham.
Newspaper Box Score Messiah College vs Moravian College 2/12/05 4:00 PM at Johnston Hall, Bethlehem, PA At Johnston Hall, Bethlehem, PA MESSIAH COLLEGE 77, MORAVIAN COLLEGE 71 MESSIAH COLLEGE (18-4, 8-3 Comm.) Dave Carter 5-11 5-9 18; Quinn Mccullough 4-11 3-5 15; Jared Yoder 4-10 3-4 11; Matt Henninger 2-3 5-6 10; David Henninger 4-9 0-0 8; Zach Wiernicki 3-7 2-2 8; Steve King 3-5 0-0 7; Femi Akinnagbe 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-57 18-26 77. MORAVIAN COLLEGE (7-15, 5-6 Comm.) Brandon Zaleski 9-14 4-8 23; Steve Wenderfer 9-14 1-2 21; Ed Reid 3-8 1-2 9; Ryan Miller 1-3 3-4 5; Michael Clemente 2-5 0-0 5; Chris Betley 1-2 1-1 3; Justin Chestnut 1-4 0-0 3; Matt Devlin 1-2 0-0 2; Zach Zsilavecz 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 10-17 71. Messiah College............... 34 43 - 77 Moravian College.............. 38 33 - 71 3-point goals-Messiah College 9-18 (Quinn Mccullough 4-6; Dave Carter 3-6; Steve King 1-2; Matt Henninger 1-1; Zach Wiernicki 0-1; Jared Yoder 0-2), Moravian College 7-20 (Ed Reid 2-4; Steve Wenderfer 2-4; Brandon Zaleski 1-2; Michael Clemente 1-4; Justin Chestnut 1-1; Zach Zsilavecz 0-3; Ryan Miller 0-2). Fouled out--Messiah College-None, Moravian College-None. Rebounds-Messiah College 37 (David Henninger 8), Moravian College 31 (Steve Wenderfer 8). Assists-Messiah College 17 (Dave Carter 10), Moravian College 15 (Justin Chestnut 6). Total fouls-Messiah College 16, Moravian College 21. A-500