GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Arcadia University men's basketball team outscored host Messiah College 39-25 in the second half on its way to a 61-47 Commonwealth Conference victory Saturday evening. The Knights improved to 8-8 overall and 4-3 in conference play after picking up their first win in Grantham in the two teams first met in 2009 when Arcadia first joined the Commonwealth Conference. The Knights are now 3-10 all-time against the Falcons (9-6, 2-5 CC).
 
This marked the second straight game, and just the second game of the season, that Arcadia held its opponent to under 50 points after holding Messiah to 35 percent (19-55) shooting from the field and 27 percent (7-26) shooting from three-point range. 
 
Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively I the first half as they went into the locker rooms tied at 22 after the first half. Messiah led by eight after senior guard David Fernandez-Bravo's layup made it 20-12 with six minutes to go in the first half, but the Knights closed the frame with a 10-2 surge that was capped by a triple from junior guard John Landro with 1:23 left on the clock.
 
Arcadia opened the second half with a 13-2 run, taking a 37-24 lead on a layup from sophomore guard Tom Feraco just over six minutes into the period. The Falcons responded with a 14-4 run to pull back within one after another layup from Fernandez cut the Knights' lead to 41-40 with 6:55 to go, but were unable to regain the lead.
 
The two teams traded baskets over the next two minutes and Messiah was once again within a single point after a three from junior forward Geoff Boyle made it 44-43 for Arcadia, but the Knights took over the game from there and outscored the Falcons 17-4 over the last 4:15 of the game to close out the win. That run started with a layup from senior forward Joe Brown, who capped the scoring in the game with a pair of made free throws.
 
Sophomore guard Ryan Kelley scored each of his game-high 16 points in the second half, eight of which came in the last four minutes, to go with six rebounds for Arcadia, while Landro netted 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the field with three triples to go with seven boards. Brown finished with a double-double after scoring 15 points and pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
Fernandez scored 12 points with six rebounds to lead Messiah, while junior guard Aaron DeVan netted 12 points. sophomore guard Luke Cable added nine points to go with four assists. Boyle was in foul trouble the entire game and scored just seven points and five rebounds before fouling out with 5:41 left in the game.
 
The Knights will look for their third straight win Wednesday night when they host Widener University for an 8 p.m. Commonwealth Conference contest.