Losing eight of your final nine games is not the best way to enter the postseason, but if the Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team is to have any success in the second season, they'll have to overcome the horrid last third of their regular season.

Penn St. Berks jumped out to a big first half lead and held off a late push by the Chargers, defeating LBC, 78-73 on Saturday at Horst Athletic Center. Keith Keltner had a team-high 17 points, while senior Madison Warfel had 16 points and four rebounds on Senior Day.

The Nittany Lions built a 46-26 lead at halftime, due in large part to their play in the paint. For the game, Penn St. Berks outscored the Chargers, 46-22 in the paint. Berks' Tom Smith led the way with a perfect 10-for-10 day from the field, en route to 22 points. Conor Hough added 15 points, while Jeff Schmidt had 13 points and 10 boards.

Penn St. Berks increased its lead to 24 with 16:06 left in the second half, but the Chargers would not die and had the deficit at 12 with 9:25 to play. The teams traded buckets for the next eight minutes, before the Chargers cut the deficit to seven with 41 seconds to play on a Travis Weyandt 3-pointer. After LBC fouled Schmidt, he missed the ensuing free throw and Weyandt's layup with 20 seconds to go cut the Nittany Lions' lead to five.

LBC fouled Hough six seconds later and he missed his free throw as well. The Chargers brought the ball down, but Warfel's 3-pointer just missed and the Chargers were forced to foul Berks point guard, Dontez Reid. Reid sunk both free throws and ended LBC's hope at a comeback.

"We were better defensively in the second half, but our rotations were bad in the first half," Chargers' Head Coach Pete Beers said.

After scoring just 26 points in the first half, the Chargers erupted for 47 second half points on 17-of-30 shooting from the floor. Beers credited the LBC bench with helping to pick up the team's pace.

"I thought Ben Scott played well and Nick Monroe and Kurt Keltner brought us energy and scrappiness," Beers said.

Though they have lost six straight games, the Chargers [6-19, 4-10 NEAC] have played well in many of the losses, something that gives Beers and the coaching staff hope.

"I've seen us compete well this week," Beers said. "That gives us an opportunity to win. We played well this week against good teams in Valley Forge Christian and Penn St. Berks. It's do or die time now and we'll see what we have."

A big part of that urgency will come from the LBC seniors, who were honored prior to Saturday's game. Brett Derr, Erich Graybill, Andrew Risser, Warfel and Weyandt played their final regular season home games and were thanked by fans and family prior to taking the Horst Athletic Center floor.

"You have to give Erich, Travis and Madison credit," Beers said. "They have given four years to this program and that is a big accomplishment. They are great guys and have never caused any problems. They are going to be successful men."

Risser, who is currently battling his third major injury in four years, also garnered high praise from Beers.

"To bounce back from the tough year he had last year has been huge," Beers said. "He showed what kind of character he has this season and it is a strong one."

And although Derr has only been a member of the Chargers' squad for two seasons, his impact at LBC has been huge.

"Brett has the fire," Beers said. "He is a competitor and fighter and I will miss that."

The drive for a second straight NCCAA East Region title begins on Wednesday when the Chargers host Philadelphia Biblical in the NCCAA East Region Semi-Final at 7 p.m. As the playoffs begin, it doesn't matter what happened to end the regular season, it, as Beers said, is do or die time now.