Box score
GRANTHAM, Pa. --- Tyler Ritzman hit an off-balance three-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining as Messiah College rallied for a 61-60 victory over Elizabethtown College in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action Wednesday night at Brubaker Auditorium.
Ritzman's game-winning basket accounted for his only points of the game and the only scoring off the bench all night for the Falcons (12-7 overall, 5-4 Commonwealth), who climbed back into a three-way tie for third place in the conference with the Blue Jays (13-6 overall, 5-4 Commonwealth) and Alvernia University.
Mike Church led Elizabethtown with 19 points and seven rebounds, while
Keith Fogel added 14 points and
Joe Flanagan contributed 12. Jamie Yoder paced Messiah with a game-high 20 points, while Kyle Snyder registered a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Falcons trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and faced a 58-52 deficit following two foul shots by Church with 2:09 left. Yoder cut the margin in half with a three-pointer with 1:38 to go, and Josh Hartman followed with another three with 56 seconds to go to knot the score at 58-58.
The Blue Jays inched ahead by two on foul shots by Church with 45 seconds left and Flanagan with 15 seconds to go, but the Falcons answered for the win as Ritzman picked up a fumbled pass and dropped home the winning shot with 1.2 seconds to play. As a team, Messiah was 5-for-17 from three-point range until connecting on each of its final three attempts from beyond the arc.
The first half featured seven lead changes in the first nine minutes before the Blue Jays jumped ahead 22-14 on a three-pointer by Fogel with 7:17 left in the half. The Blue Jays led by as many as 11 points on two occasions, and went to intermission on top 34-26 as Church led the way with 12 points and five rebounds.
Messiah quickly carved the lead down to a single point at 38-37 with 16:29 to go following a basket by Colton Reitz, and went ahead 41-40 on a three-pointer by Hartman with 14:22 left. With the score tied 45-45 at the 11:44 mark, the Blue Jays reeled off six straight points on a three-point play by
Chris Jones and a three-point basket by Fogel to go on top 51-45 with 10:43 remaining. From there, the Blue Jays held a two-possession lead until Yoder's three-pointer brought the Falcons within 58-55 at the 1:38 mark.
Hartman and Chris Yoder each scored nine points for the Falcons while Reitz added eight points and four rebounds. Jones finished with six points and three rebounds in 15 minutes for the Blue Jays, who shot 38.8 percent (19-for-49) overall from the field and 16-for-25 from the foul line.