Sighs of relief and smiles were the reactions to the Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team's , 72-59 win over Baptist Bible College on Saturday. Sighs of relief because their four-game losing streak was over and smiles because they had snapped it against arch-rival BBC.

Kevin Keltner had a season-high 24 points and a career-high nine assists to lead the Chargers past the Defenders for the third straight season.

"Kevin played well on both ends of the floor today," Chargers' Head Coach Pete Beers said. "He did a great job leading the team today and did well protecting the ball and moving it quickly in the offensive end."

After being down by two early in the first half, LBC's Madison Warfel hit one of his five three-pointers to give the Chargers a 6-5 lead and they would not trail the rest of the game. Warfel hit another three, his third of the game, five minutes into the game and the Chargers were off and running.

"We wanted to work the ball around to make BBC spend their energy in the defensive end rather then the offensive end," Beers said. "Being able to get Madison started that early was huge for us."

The Chargers took a 37-25 lead into the half, but the Defenders opened the second frame on a 6-1 run and cut the lead to seven at the 16:39 mark. A bucket and free throw, followed by a jumper all by Kevin Keltner put the lead back to 12 just a minute later.

The Defenders (4-6) would not go quietly and cut the lead to five with 8:11 to play. Warfel found his stroke again and knocked down back to back three-pointers to increase the lead to 11. Keith Keltner drained a three less then a minute later and put the game out of reach for the Defenders.

"Our ball movement was better then it has been in a while and we were cutting to the ball better as well," Beers said. "We worked the ball inside well today too."

Another key component to the win was the play of the LBC bench. Eric Nulf had a season-high 14 points and nine rebounds, while Dan Merson and Jerel Chavis continue to give the Chargers solid minutes.

"Nulf had some huge three-pointers for us and did a great job on the glass," Beers said. "Dan and Jerel stepped up when Big E, [Erich Graybill] got into foul trouble."

After playing arguably the toughest part of their schedule [Ferrum, Albright, Cabrini, Franklin & Marshall], the Chargers will play just one game in the next 11 days. They face Gallaudet on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

"We hope to build on this win," Beers said. "We have a very challenging schedule and today we stepped up to the challenge. We want to practice hard on Monday and Tuesday and be ready for a tough Gallaudet team."

Notes:
-Warfel finished with 17 points and has made 26 three-pointers this season.

-LBC is just 7-63 all-time against BBC, but all seven wins have come in the last 10 years.

-Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday at Gallaudet.