Reading, Pa. (Feb. 4, 2015) – Messiah College (12-8, 5-7) scored on a driving bucket with five seconds left for a 63-61 win over Alvernia University (11-8, 6-5) Wednesday evening in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action at Jack McCloskey Court.
 
The Crusaders trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half and got a layup from senior Lamont Clark to knot the score at 61-all with 13 seconds left.
 
Messiah senior David Fernandes-Bravo drove the lane and scored with five seconds left for the two-point lead, and Clark's elbow jumper on the final possession was off the front iron.
 
Alvernia trailed 43-28 with 17 minutes left in the game and put together a 14-4 run to knock the deficit down to five points.  The Crusaders got balanced scoring on the run with Chuck Cooper, Alex Shippen, and Harrison Deyo all scoring four points apiece.
 
Messiah pushed the lead back to 10 points, 56-46, with 7:41 to go on a jumper from Fernandez-Bravo.
 
Alvernia freshman Mike Miller scored on a pull-up in the lane, Clark scored on a fastbreak, and Cooper eventually nailed a 3 from the right corner that capped a 10-2 run leaving the Crusaders down just two with 2:52 to play.
 
Messiah got a 3 from Zac Hoy, but Alvernia answered on a 3 from Miller.
 
Deyo kept the Crusaders within two with a block from behind on the defensive end and Shippen had a 3 in transition clank off the back iron.
 
Messiah missed a shot in the lane with 31 seconds left and Clark drive and scored with the left hand to knot the score at 61-all.
 
Messiah called timeout to set up the final play for Fernandez-Bravo who scored in traffic.  Clark drove the length of the floor on the inbound and had a clean look at a pull-up but it was off the mark.
 
Hoy led all scorers with 20 points and Geoff Boyle added 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Falcons. Cooper led the Crusaders with 19 points and Deyo added 17 points and 10 boards.  Clark finished with eight points and pulled within 18 points of 1,000 for his career.
 
Messiah hit its first five shots of the game and went 15-for-25 in the first half—including 6-for-10 from the arc.  Alvernia was just 3-of-14 from long range in the half, and trailed by 11 at the break.
 
Alvernia finished the game 5-of-26 from the arc while Messiah went 7-for-15.
 
Lycoming, Stevenson, and Arcadia all picked up wins Wednesday.  The Warriors stay two games clear in first place with Stevenson alone in second.  Arcadia moves into third place a half-game ahead of Alvernia in fourth.  Hood had the off day and sits in fifth place a game behind Alvernia.  Lebanon Valley, Messiah, and Albright remain in the mix for a playoff spot.
 
Alvernia heads to Hood College on Saturday.
 
Messiah 63, Alvernia 61