CARLISLE, Pa. - The Dickinson men's basketball team got back to winning ways on Saturday using a strong shooting output going 25-of-54 from the floor, including 12-of-24 outside the arc to snap a three-game skid with a 71-63 non-conference win over the visiting Messiah University Falcons at the Kline Center.
Things were on the seesaw early as
Anthony Goeb,
Nate Ogbu,
David Petrusev and
Skyler Venezia found the bottom of the net for the Devils to leave the game tied 10-10 with five minutes gone. Dickinson continued to be hot from the field early with Venezia sticking a triple, while jumpers by
Aaron Bailey and Ogbu gave the home side a 17-10 edge. Following an "old-fashioned" three-point play for Caleb Thompson, the Devils kept on firing away from beyond the arc as both
Brandon Wiercinski and Venezia delivered, in addition to four points from Petrusev finished off a 10-3 stretch to go ahead 27-13 with 9:22 remaining. Messiah answered back by tallying seven of the next nine thanks to Bryce Coletti, Cole Fisher and Jack Ramsey to pull within 29-20. However, a three-ball out of the hands of Ogbu stunted the charge, before Caleb Lyles and Johnny McBride chipped in four points to make it 32-24. The Red and White concluded the half by racking up five of the final seven with Venezia cashing in from deep and Goeb sticking two at the charity line for the 37-26 halftime edge.
The Falcons kicked off the second period with two at the line by Lyles, before another Devils triple this time from Petrusev made it 40-28 inside the first minute. However, the trio of Coletti, Fisher and Ramsey accounted for five of the ensuing six points to draw a little closer at 41-33 at the six minute mark. After a jumper for Bailey, the visitors continued their flight as Christian Jackson, Fisher and McBride tallied six straight to bring the gap to just four (43-39) still with over a dozen minutes left. Dickinson attempted to build up some distance between the sides with
Luis Ruiz burying a triple and
Randy Shephard and Wiercinski each finishing off layups in the paint pushing the margin out to 50-43. Four points for Thompson helped the Falcons to claw away at the deficit, but a three by
Andrew Gostovich along with buckets for Petrusev and Shephard allowed DC to extend the advantage back out to double-figures 59-47 inside the final six minutes. The Devils attempted to finally put the game completely out of reach with an 8-4 push over the next two minutes as Gostovich and Venezia cashed in from distance, while Gostovich added a driving layup off a feed from Petrusev to push the lead up to 65-51. That was when Messiah snapped back to attention responding with baskets from Fisher and Lyles to ripoff a 10-2 rush to trim the deficit to just six 67-61 with 31-seconds left. Dickinson would then salt the game away on the foul line with both Goeb and Venezia knocking down two at the stripe for the 71-63 win.
Red Devil Leaders
Points - Venezia (17), Petrusev (15), Gostovich (10)
Assists - Petrusev and Shephard (4), Gostovich (3)
Rebounds - Ogbu (9), Ruiz (7), Venezia (5)
Falcon Leaders
Points - Fisher (22)
Assists - Jackson (5), Fisher and Parker (2)
Rebounds - Jackson (6), McBride (4)
Next on the Court
Dickinson (3-5, 1-3 Centennial) will now take a week off for finals, before returning to action on Tuesday, December 19th at 3pm when they battle Bethel University in St. Petersburg, Florida.
