GLENSIDE, Pa. – The Arcadia University men's basketball picked up its first MAC Commonwealth win of the season Wednesday night 72-67 over Messiah at Alumni Gymnasium. The win moved the Knights to 2-4 on the season and 1-1 in conference play, while the Falcons fell to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: After the Falcons scored the game's first bucket on a Matt Hess three, the Knights used a 15-6 run, highlighted by five points from senior Ryan Kelley, to open a 15-9 lead just under eight minutes in. The visitors fired back by rattling off eight straight to jump out to a two-point lead with just past the midway point of the first half. Trailing by two with 3:51 to go until halftime, junior Brandon Thompson laid in two points that not only tied the game at 28, but also began a half-ending 13-3 run that sent the Knights to the locker room with a 39-31 lead.
 
The second half was not so friendly to Arcadia as the Falcons opened the stanza on a 23-6 run to jump out to a 54-45 lead just over nine minutes in. Nate Eberle scored eight points over the spurt, while the team went 5-7 from distance.
 
After trailing by as many as 11 with 6:44 to go, the Knights proved their resiliency as they held the Falcons to just three points the rest of the way. Kelley pulled Arcadia to within five with just over five minutes to play before Neil Murren netted Messiah's last three points with 4:59 to go. From there Arcadia went 2-2 from the floor and 8-10 from the charity stripe as it scored the final 13 points of the contest. Kelley netted a pair of free throws with 1:25 on the clock, the second of which put the Knights' in front for good.
 
ARCADIA LEADERS: Kelley and Thompson each dropped a game-high 18 points while pulling in five rebounds and recording two steals. Kelley also led the team in assists with four. Sophomore Josh Scott led all players off the glass with seven boards, while adding 10 points.
 
MESSIAH LEADERS: Hess led the Falcons in scoring with 14 points while handing out a game-best six assists; Colin Sareyka (11) and Logan Long (10) also reached double-figures. Long tied for the team-lead in rebounding with four with Josh Clippinger.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Arcadia shot 51% (25-49) from the field, including 4-13 from distance, while going 18-25 (72%) from the free throw line. Messiah 35.3% (24-68) from the floor however converted 40% of its three-point attempts, while going 7-9 from the free throw line. The Knights controlled the paint, outscoring the visitors 34-16 down low.