Hours before Lancaster Bible College hosted third ranked Eastern Mennonite University, Chargers' forward Andrew Risser was practicing his free throw shooting and when asked how he thought the game would go in a few hours, he said it was going to be tough, but that he and his teammates were ready and excited to play.

Fast forward three hours and there LBC stood, up seven points three minutes into the second half with the ball. Unfortunately, the Royals aren't ranked third in the country for no reason. R.J. Sims, Eli Crawford and Orie Pancione each had seven points in the second half to propel EMU to an 84-78 win.

EMU shot 63 percent in the first half, but their clutch second half shooting and ability to score in the paint proved to be too much for the Chargers in the second half.

"We gave them all they could handle," LBC Head Coach Pete Beers said. "I think we just ran out of gas at the end."

Box Score

In the first half and much of the second half however, LBC stood toe-to-toe with EMU. Though the Royals shot so well in the first half, Beers was very pleased with the defensive effort throughout the entire game.

"Not enough can be said about our defense," Beers said. "Madison Warfel and Brett Derr did a fantastic job on [George] Williams tonight. He is a great player and he got nothing easy tonight because of them."

LBC's offense was no slouch in the first half either. The Chargers shot 52 percent in the first half, led by Kody Koser's 15 points.

"To be down 6-0 early and thing look up and see we are ahead 10-6, it just goes show the resiliency of this team," Beers said. "It is fun to be a part of."

After taking the lead back with 7:29 to go, the Royals stretched it to seven with 2:30 remaining. Refusing to die, the Chargers cut it to three with 50 seconds left. EMU held the ball and missed a three-pointer, but the Royals' Marlon Organ got the rebound and LBC was forced to foul. EMU made three of their final four free throws and put the game away.

"We've only begun to tap into what we can be," Beers said. "If we can stay healthy, keep our focus and continue to get better, we are going to be a tough team to play all year long."

Koser had a game-high 26 points for LBC. It was his third straight game with 25 points or more. Risser (15), Kevin Keltner (14) and Derr (11) were the other Chargers' in double figures. For the game, LBC shot 46 percent from the field.

"Kody was very good tonight," Beers said. "What a great addition he has been so far. He doesn't force his shot, but takes advantage of every opportunity that is given to him."

The Chargers will now enjoy 10 days off before their next game.

"The break will allow our guys who played soccer all fall and jumped right into basketball a nice rest," Beers said. "We will come back from Thanksgiving and have four solid days to prepare for a tough tournament in Boston."

LBC is slated to take on New England College on December 3 at 8:00 p.m.

Notes:
-Prior to the game, Koser was named NCCAA Division II Men's Basketball Player of the Week for his first week performance which saw him score 71 points in three games.

-EMU is now 5-0 all-time against LBC.

-In their previous four meetings, EMU had never beaten LBC by less than 17 points, including last year's 96-53 win.