Box Score It wasn't that the Lancaster Bible men's basketball team didn't want to win last season, it simply came down to them not knowing how to close out a game or get that big basket when they needed it. This season, things are different. Guys want the ball in crunch time, they want to take the free throw and they want to draw a charge. 

Lancaster Bible's resolve was put to the test again on Saturday as the defending NEAC Champions, Morrisville State came to town and threw everything they had at the Chargers, but it was Lancaster Bible who made one more shot when it counted to earn a hard-fought, 59-57 victory.

The Mustangs (4-4, 2-2 NEAC) jumped out to an early advantage as they took their biggest lead of the game with 8:42 to play in the first half at 17-8. Strong play inside by Morrisville State and poor shooting contributed to the early lead, but the Chargers began chipping away and eventually tied the game at 23-23 on a three-pointer by Albert Suniga with 2:04 to play in the first half. Nick Granato made two free throws with three seconds to play in the first half to give the Mustangs a 25-23 halftime advantage.

Morrisville State's 2-3 zone caused some frustration for the Chargers who scored 102 points 16 hours prior to Saturday's game against the same 2-3 zone of Cazenovia. 

"[Morrisville State] covered more ground with their zone and even though we played it Friday night, some of the same shot that went in on Friday, clanked out today," Chargers Head Coach Marshall Tague said. 

The teams fought back-and-forth for much of the second half before the Chargers were able to open a seven-point lead, 50-43 with 3:56 to play. The Mustangs, who finished 20th in last season's final D3hoops.com poll, did not go quietly, as they cut the deficit to one, 50-49, just over a minute later.

A three-pointer by CJ Dunston made it 55-51 Lancaster Bible with 1:31 to play, but Morrisville State's Jordan Prior sprinted down the floor and answered with his own three-pointer just six seconds later to cut the Chargers' lead to 55-54. A made free throw by each team made it 56-55 before Lancaster Bible's Dondre Perry buried a three-pointer with 29 seconds to play to give the Chargers a 59-55 lead.

Morrisville State's Steven Thompson cut the deficit in half with a jumper with 15 seconds to play and after Dunston missed the front-end of a one-and-one, the Mustangs called timeout with eight seconds to play. Jailaan Kinsey missed a three-pointer with five seconds to go and though Thompson got the rebound, his jumper would not go as time expired, giving the Chargers their first-ever victory over Morrisville State.

Tague gave credit to his guys for coming through when the team needed it the most.

"We've got guys with intangibles and you can't really coach those things, but you can set up opportunities for those intangibles to be shown," Tague said. "These guys want to win badly and something inside of them is saying, 'something good needs to happen and I'm going to provide it' and when guys step up, it gets contagious."

Dunston finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Chargers, while Albert Suniga had a team-high 12 points. Sophomore Luke Roundy chipped in with eight points, while Naheer Mirza, who battled foul trouble in the first half, had six points and seven assists.

After winning three games in five days, Tague said he was proud of how the guys responded to not only playing three games during the final week of classes for the semester, but staying with everything mentally.

"We played three very different games this week," Tague said. "I think the guys did a great job of grinding the week out. From classes to practices to games, I think they did a really nice job."

The four-game winning streak is the longest since the Chargers won four in a row from January 21, 2006 to January 31, 2006. Lancaster Bible will now have eight days off before hosting Mount Aloysius on Monday, December 16 at 6 p.m. Tague said he was very excited about the rest.

"The rest is going to be great, the guys need it," Tague said. "With Finals Week coming up and it just being the end of the semester, the guys just need a few days."

Lancaster Bible's final two games of the semester are non-conference games as they host the Mounties on the 16th before traveling to face Bryn Athyn on Wednesday, the 18th. Bryn Athyn will be a NEAC member starting with the 2014-15 season.

Notes:
-The four wins matches last season's total. LBC earned a win after the season due to a forfeit to technically give them five wins.

-The three NEAC wins also match last season's total as LBC went 3-11 during the 2012-13 season.