It all started so slowly and unassumingly.

The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team trailed, 38-14 and had just gotten outscored 11-2 over the last 2:43. They looked sluggish and their opponent, Penn St. Abington, seemingly couldn't miss. Oddly enough, however, the crowd was still into the game and the Chargers continued to hustle after every loose ball and try as they may, defended pretty well.

[Writers note: The crowd, specifically the LBC student section, cheered so loudly after a layup that made the score 38-16, that I actually remember laughing and asking the LBC Public Address Announcer, Bob McMichael, if the student section knew how to subtract and realized how big the deficit was.]

[2nd Quick note: The LBC Student Section turned out to be a great help in the Chargers' comeback and I apologize for questioning their ability to subtract. Good work LBC Student Section.]

LBC began chipping away at the deficit and cut the Penn St. Abington lead to 13 at halftime. The Nittany Lions shot 53 percent in the first half and drained seven 3-pointers, four of them coming from Don DeLeo. LBC meanwhile, shot just 42 percent and hit only one 3-pointer.

The teams traded baskets for the first couple of minutes of the second half, before the Nittany Lions extended the lead to 18 on two free throws by freshman Mike Marvin with 14:37 to play. A Will Alton three-point play extended the lead to 75-54, with 14:16 to play as the Nittany Lions began to pour it on.

However, it was at this point where things got interesting, by again, the most unassuming of circumstances. Back-to-back layups by Andrew Risser and Erich Graybill got LBC going a bit and after a technical foul by Marvin, Kurt Keltner and Erich Graybill made three of the four LBC free throws and cut the lead to 14. The Chargers did not stop there either, as Graybill's bucket in the paint and back-to-back 3-pointers from Travis Weyandt and Madison Warfel cut the lead to six and capped off LBC's improbable 15-0 run to get back into the game.

The 15-0 run, over 5:38, was the longest of the season for the Chargers and not only energized the team, but the crowd as well.

"Give credit to our guys," Chargers' Head Coach Pete Beers said. "It took them a little bit to get going, but their character showed and we played with pride tonight. We rallied, got some stops, made a few buckets, they went cold for a bit and we took advantage."

After being back on their heels, Penn St. Abington appeared to right the ship as a Marvin jumper in the paint extended the lead back to eight, 81-73, with 5:02 to play. The teams again traded buckets before Risser's layup cut the deficit to four with 2:24 left.

Once again though, the Nittany Lions withstood the pressure and after an Alton free throw, led 87-82 with 31 seconds left to play. A quick 3-pointer by LBC's Keith Keltner cut the deficit to two with 26 seconds to go, and after Mike Colacci hit one of two free throws, the Nittany Lions led, 88-85, with 16 seconds to play. Another quick Keltner bucket made it 88-87 in Abington's favor and Alton's two free throws with four seconds to play extended the Abington lead to three at 90-87.

With no timeouts remaining, Keith Keltner received the inbounds pass and drove down the right-side of the court, he found Darrell Epps on the wing and with a defender charging at him, Epps released his shot just before the clock hit zero. It hit nothing but net and the building began to shake.

Epps' 3-pointer tied the game at 90-90 and sent the game to overtime, which only seemed fitting for how hard both teams had played throughout regulation.

"What a great shot by Epps," Beers said. "He missed easier shots the whole day and then that one goes in, it's crazy."

The Chargers carried the momentum with them into overtime and two quick 3-pointers by Keith Keltner and Warfel gave LBC their biggest lead of the game at 96-90. Abington cut the deficit to one two times (98-97 and 100-99), but Kurt Keltner made three of four free throws down the stretch to secure one of the most improbable LBC wins of all-time, 103-99.

"I am thankful and am rejoicing," Beers said. "I am blessed to be a part of this team's effort tonight."

Risser finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Keith Keltner had 20 points and six assists. Warfel had 14 points, including four 3-pointers, while Graybill finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

While the stats were nice, Beers was just as impressed with those who provided a spark to the Chargers, specifically Travis Weyandt and Brett Derr.

"I thought Travis was the spark that got us going," Beers said of Weyandt, who finished with seven points and five rebounds in 20 minutes of play.

For all of the good feelings the win brings the Chargers [4-11 overall, 3-6 NEAC], they have to get right back to work on Wednesday and prepare for Thursday night's showdown with NCCAA East Region rival Philadelphia Biblical. Beers said he and the team won't mind the quick turnaround.

"I think its great we are playing Thursday," Beers said. "We are 4-11 and we need to bust and focus on what's at hand."

The Chargers will be looking for their first three-game winning streak since the end of the last season when they wrapped up the regular season with a win and then beat PBU and Valley Forge Christian in the NCCAA East Region Playoffs.

Thursday's game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Let's hope it's just as crazy and fun as Tuesday's game, even if it starts slow and unassuming.


Notes:
-The 103 points are the most points LBC has scored since December 11, 2010 when they scored 108 in a 108-96 double overtime victory against PBU.

-The last time LBC scored 100 points without the game going to overtime was during the 2008-09 season when they crushed Washington Bible, 110-50 at Horst Athletic Center.

-LBC is now 1-2 all-time against Penn St. Abington.

-These two teams will play again on February 14 at Penn St. Abington.