Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Jared Yoder posted a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds as Messiah used a 2-to-1 rebounding advantage to defeat Gettysburg 64-49 in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday.
Yoder connected on 8 of 9 shots from the floor and hit the defensive glass for 10 of his 14 boards as the Falcons (8-2) finished with a 50-25 rebounding edge en route to their fourth straight victory over the Bullets (3-5). Zach Wiernicki also scored a game-high 17 and hauled down nine boards while Quinn McCullough chipped in with seven points, six rebounds and a game-high six assists.
Erik Fromm (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) netted a team-high 12 points for Gettysburg, which turned in season lows for points and field goal percentage (.320). Dan Capkin (Wynnewood, PA/Lower Merion) chipped in with seven points.
Messiah never trailed on the afternoon, jumping to an early 7-2 lead on seven points from Wiernicki, then pushing the advantage to 18-7 on Yoder's layup with fewer than seven minutes elapsed. Dan Snyder's 3-pointer with 7:43 left in the half made it 26-13 and forced the Bullets' second timeout in a span of five minutes.
Fromm responded after the stoppage, hitting a layup and knocking down a 3-pointer before two free throws by Matt Whelan (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield/Worcester Acad. [MA]) cut the deficit to 26-20 with 5:02 remaining before the break.
Gettysburg, however, would get no closer the rest of the afternoon. Wiernicki knocked down two free throws and local product Drew Sneeringer followed with his lone 3-pointer of the day, fueling a 9-2 burst that restored the Falcons' 13-point lead.
Fromm sliced the deficit to single digits for the final time with a trey to open the second half, but Wiernicki answered with a three of his own on Messiah's next possession. The senior's 3-point play with 9:44 remaining capped a 7-0 run that made it 53-35 and the Falcons stretched the lead to as many as 21 points in the closing minutes.
Wiernicki added four assists in the win, Messiah's sixth in a row following a 90-78 loss at Division II Mansfield on Nov. 26. Despite shooting only 4-for-17 from 3-point range, the Falcons used their inside presence to score 38 points in the paint and converted 19 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points.
The Bullets return to action on Tuesday against Adrian at the Ramada Inn/Monarch Classic hosted by King's. Game time is 6 p.m.
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