Middletown Pa. - The Lions showed great character in a tough match up against the Messiah Falcons on Wednesday November 20th for the team's first home game of the season. Harrisburg never stopped working despite playing from behind for most of the night before falling with a score of 77-45.
The Lions kept things tight for the first part of the game and held an early 4-3 lead that unfortunately would be their last of the night. Harrisburg did not sit back and wait for the game to come to them. They came with intense pressure from the tip-off and combined with some interesting hand checking calls had the Falcons in the bonus just six minutes into the game.
HANNAH Jorich's (Middletown, Pa. / Middletown) layup at the mid-point of first half put the Lions back within striking distance, down 17-14. The Falcon's answered with a 13-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 30-14 lead with 6:49 to go. This run helped Messiah go into halftime with the momentum and a 37-22 lead.
The second half started out similar to the first for Harrisburg. Kaitlyn Carmo (Palmyra, Pa. / Palmyra) made a layup to cut into the lead, but the Falcons answered with an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach. Carmo was the Lions leading scorer, firing on all cylinders for 13 points and 7 rebounds.
Despite the tough loss, the Blue and White showed tremendous character in the second half with their effort all the way to the final whistle. They continued to dive for loose balls, got physical for rebounds, and did not back down one bit to the impressive Falcons who moved the ball extremely well as a team tonight.
Sophomore Jasmine Yanich's (Harrisburg, Pa/ Susquehanna) had this to say about the performance following the game. "We played hard the entire game and continue to improve as a team". Yanich added 3 points, 4 rebounds, and a huge block coming off the bench tonight.
Harrisburg at many times in the game had as many as four freshmen playing together on the floor. They made their share of rookie mistakes, but also had shining moments of impressive skill and poise.
The Lions, now 1-2, will host Wilkes University Saturday 1:00 for a chance to get back to .500 on the year.
