Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Messiah College jumped to a 35-25 halftime lead, then outscored Gettysburg 39-25 in the second half and the Falcons handed the Bullets a 74-50 loss in non-conference men's basketball action Wednesday evening in Bream Gymnasium.

Junior forward Alex Zurn and freshman guard Joe Emerusabe scored 13 points apiece for the Bullets (5-6).

The game was played 50 years to the day after the first basketball game held in Bream Gym – a 69-59 victory by the men's team over Bucknell University.

Sophomore guard David Fernandez scored a game-high 17 points for Messiah (7-5), which scored 35 bench points. Sophomore guard Brad Bolen led the reserves with 14 points while freshman guard Zach Hoy added 12. Sophomore forward Taylor Groff contributed seven points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Falcons, who broke the game open with a 21-5 run midway through the second half.

Messiah out-rebounded the Bullets 34-18 and turned 14 offensive boards into 18 second-chance points.

Gettysburg scored the first eight points of the game, getting five points from Emerusabe before senior guard Brendan Treleas drained a trey. But the Falcons climbed back into it and took their first lead (19-18) on a 3-pointer from Trey Ritzman with 6:39 left in the opening period. Ritzman's triple kicked off a 12-1 Messiah run that put the visitors up 28-19 with 4:36 on the clock.

Another Ritzman 3-pointer made it 33-21 with 2:45 to go in the opening half, and the Falcons would lead by double digits the rest of the way. Zurn knocked down a jumper with 42 seconds remaining in the half to make it a 10-point game at the break.

The Bullets shot 50.0 percent (10-for-20) in the opening stanza but were out-rebounded 19-9, including 11-2 on the offensive glass.

Gettysburg was within striking distance midway through the second half, when an Emerusabe 3-pointer made it 49-37 with 11:36 left. But that's when the Falcons pulled away with their big run, punctuated by a Groff jumper that made it 70-42 with 6:08 remaining. Bolen scored seven points during the stretch.

Messiah shot 59.3 percent in the second half and 50.9 percent for the game.

The Bullets return to Centennial Conference action on Saturday, when they visit Washington College at 4 p.m.

MESSIAH (7-5)
David Fernandez 8-14 0-1 17; Brad Bolen 4-7 4-4 14; Zach Hoy 5-9 0-0 12;
Jeremiah Runkle 3-3 2-2 8; Derek Mosley 3-8 0-0 7; Taylor Groff 2-4 3-5 7;
Trey Ritzman 2-6 0-0 6; Craig Bowen 1-1 0-0 2; Christyan DeVan 0-1 1-2 1;
Pete Cradduck 0-1 0-0 0; Greg Waidlich 0-0 0-0 0; Dwayne Allgyer 0-0 0-0 0;
Dan Mosley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 10-14 74.
GETTYSBURG (5-6)
Joe Emerusabe 5-9 0-0 13; Alex Zurn 5-12 3-4 13; Sean Gordon 2-5 0-0 6;
Brendan Trelease 2-6 0-0 5; JoJo Savaglio 1-1 2-2 5; Christian Bors 2-6 0-0
4; Larry Geedey 1-1 0-0 3; Christian Healy 0-0 1-2 1; Tim Lang 0-0 0-0 0;
Benjamin Constable 0-1 0-0 0; Connor Poston 0-0 0-0 0; Mark Siden 0-1 0-0 0;
Mark Staub 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-42 6-8 50.
Messiah.......................   35   39  -   74
Gettysburg....................   25   25  -   50
3-point goals--Messiah 8-26 (Brad Bolen 2-4; Zach Hoy 2-5; Trey Ritzman 2-5;
David Fernandez 1-2; Derek Mosley 1-5; Pete Cradduck 0-1; Dan Mosley 0-1;
Christyan DeVan 0-1; Taylor Groff 0-2), Gettysburg 8-16 (Joe Emerusabe 3-5;
Sean Gordon 2-3; JoJo Savaglio 1-1; Brendan Trelease 1-4; Larry Geedey 1-1;
Alex Zurn 0-2). Fouled out--Messiah-None, Gettysburg-None. Rebounds--Messiah
34 (Taylor Groff 9), Gettysburg 18 (Alex Zurn 6). Assists--Messiah 15 (Trey
Ritzman 4), Gettysburg 11 (Brendan Trelease 2; Alex Zurn 2; Benjamin
Constable 2; Sean Gordon 2). Total fouls--Messiah 11, Gettysburg 14.
Technical fouls--Messiah-None, Gettysburg-None. A-147