Game tied, two seconds to go, you get to pick one Lancaster Bible College men's basketball player to send to the line for two free throws, who do you pick? You more then likely pick senior
Kevin Keltner and the conclusion of Wednesday's matinee featured just this scenario.
Keltner was fouled by Gallaudet's Brandon McMillon with two seconds remaining and knocked down one of two free throws to propel the Chargers past the Bison, 68-67 in Washington, D.C. Kevin's brother Keith, had a season-high and game-high 19 points to go along with his seven rebounds to pace the Chargers, who won their second straight game.
"Keith played his best game of the season today," Chargers' Head Coach
Pete Beers said. "He looked very good and shot the ball well."
After taking a three-point lead into the break, LBC opened the lead to nine points on a layup by
Erich Graybill at the 17:15 mark. Graybill had all 13 of his points in the second half to help LBC maintain a slim lead for almost all of the second half.
"Big E [Graybill] was huge for us in the second half," Beers said. "He was big, as were
Dan Merson and
Jerel Chavis. We had solid play from our bigs all night long and got 33 minutes from them which is pretty good."
Gallaudet (7-6) took three separate one-point leads in the second half, the first coming at the 11:03 mark. LBC battled back, keeping between a one and six point lead until 2:34 when the Bison once again took a one point lead. The Keltner's took over and scored LBC's last six points and 17 of their last 18 points.
"Kevin did a great job on both ends of the floor today for us," Beers said. "He played well defensively and led the team well."
Gallaudet's Danny Long tied the game at 67-67 with 14 seconds to go, before McMillon fouled Keltner with two seconds left.
"It's nice to have a clutch player on the line with two seconds to go," Beers said.
LBC (6-9) is now 2-0 all-time against the Bison after beating them, 61-52 last season in Lancaster. The Chargers will face Gallaudet every season after this year as they will both be a part of the North Eastern Athletic Conference [NEAC].
The Chargers are off until next Thursday, January 20, when they travel to face NCCAA East Region rival Valley Forge Christian College at 8:00 p.m. Having won two straight games and playing well, Beers said he is still OK with the team getting an extended break before their next game.
"It will be nice to get a bit of a rest," Beers said. "We have been going pretty hard since basically the beginning of January and played four games already in 2011. We will get the guys back into shape and work on a few things that need adjusted."
Notes:
-Gallaudet is one of only eight teams the Chargers are undefeated against and have more than one win against.
-Wednesday was the second time this season
Keith Keltner has led the Chargers in scoring in an individual game.