They battled back, they took the opposing team's best shot, they just could not get big bucket to go down.

The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team fought back from from a 19-point first half deficit, but could not complete the comeback at the end, falling 71-70 to Valley Forge Christian College in the NCCAA East Region Final.

Senior Carl Edwards led LBC with 20 points and 10 rebounds. His strong play on both ends of the floor helped propel the Chargers' comeback.

"Carl played as big as a senior can play," Chargers' Head Coach Pete Beers said. "He and the other players deserved better today."

Brothers Keith Keltner and Kevin Keltner each added 16 points for the Chargers (13-13). Keith chipped in with five assists, while Kevin had four.

"Keith played great tonight," Beers said. "And Kevin again did everything we asked of him."

The Patriots controlled play for much of the first half. Halfway through the opening half, VFCC was shooting well over 60 percent and their press was causing plenty of problems for the Chargers.

Due to foul trouble and cautioning against fatigue, the Patriots pulled back the press to start the second half which enabled LBC to begin its comeback.

"We came out [in the second half] a bit tenative due to our foul trouble," Patriots' Head Coach Jon Mack said. "We had guys playing long minutes due to some injuries we sustained earlier in the week and we did not want our guys to be drained at the end."

With the press pulled back, LBC was able to run its halfcourt offense. In that offense, the Chargers were able to get the ball into the low-post to Edwards and do more of what they wanted.

"LBC has a great halfcourt offense and we did not do a very good job of keeping them out of their comfort zone in the second half," Mack said.

Beers and the LBC coaching staff were pleased with how the Chargers played in the second half.

"I thought we adjusted well in the second half," Beers said. "To comeback from the big deficit was great."

With the Chargers trailing by one, the Patriots' Jerome Monroe missed both free throws with five seconds remaining. Edwards grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 3.5 seconds left. LBC set up an in-bounds play, but with no one covering the in-bound passer, Edwards heaved a court-long pass to Colin Cooper who was then fouled with 0.8 seconds to go.

After missing the first free throw, Cooper just missed the second one and the Patriots grabbed the rebound as the clock expired.

"We cannot ask for a better opportunity," Beers said. "At the same time, that was not the only chance we had and could have done more than just make those free throws to win the game. None of us fault Colin, he played really well today."

VFCC's Latrell Alford led the Patriots with 16 points. This was the third straight season the Patriots won the East Region.

Despite the loss, LBC can still earn an at-large bid to the NCCAA National Tournament. They should find out Sunday if they have been chosen.

"If we are fortunate to get an at-large bid, I think we have a chance to do some damage," Beers said. "We are starting to build something exciting here."

The game itself will no doubt leave a lasting impression on the players and coaches.

"This game will not be soon forgotten," Beers said.

"The game was played in such a great atmosphere," Mack said.

Beers was proud of the way his team handled the adversity of playing on the road and coming back from such a large deficit.

"This was college basketball at its best," Beers said. "This makes our players not only better ball players, but better leaders and better men. We have always been about embracing the process and not necessarily the result. You have to face adversity to become better, and we did that today."

Notes:
-For the game, LBC shot 48.2 percent, while VFCC shot 43.1 percent.

-LBC out rebounded VFCC, 32-25.

-The Patriots were 20-of-27 from the free throw line, while the Chargers were 11-of-19.

-The NCCAA National Tournament will be held in at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri from March 9 to March 13.