Box Score For the fifth straight season, Lancaster Bible and Valley Forge Christian squared off in the NCCAA East Region Final and for the second straight year, the Patriots got the best of LBC and advanced to the NCCAA National Tournament, this time with a 70-55 win at Horst Athletic Center.

Valley Forge Christian's press and up-tempo offensive attack gave the Chargers fits all night long as the Patriots avenged a 70-65 regular season loss to the Chargers just two weeks ago.

Kevin Mack, the East Region Player of the Year, led five Valley Forge Christian players in double figures with 15 points, while Lance Harris added 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. 

The game started slow as neither team could find its rhythm offensively, though it was a very fast-paced game throughout as the teams went end-to-end for long stretches of time. The Patriots (16-11) took their largest lead of the first half at 25-16 with 2:21 to play on a layup by Jonathan Dukes, but LBC (4-22) was able to trim the deficit to six prior to halftime.

Valley Forge Christian put their foot on the gas early in the second half as they came out and used a 9-3 run in the first 3:06 to open up a 34-22 lead. The Chargers cut the deficit to six at one point, but the Patriots ability to score when they needed to and their pressure defense proved to be the difference.

"I thought Donnell Davis was the difference tonight," Chargers' Head Coach Marshall Tague said. "He played much better tonight than in the regular season game and his ability to play defense and the way he pressed the ball was great."

Tague added that LBC played pretty well defensively, but the rebounding edge Valley Forge Christian held kept their possessions alive and eventually the Chargers tired and the Patriots took advantage.

"We did what we wanted to defensively, but they killed us on the offensive boards and we had couple mental lapses that hurt us in the second half as well," Tague said.

Tague's first season is in the books and though it was difficult to say anything after the game to take the pain away, Tague did say he was very proud of the guys for not quitting this season.

"It's tough for the season to end, but I'm really proud of the guys and the fight they continued to show throughout the season," Tague said. It was an up and down year, but they never stopped trying."

Senior Keith Keltner led the Chargers with 19 points, while fellow senior Dan Karl added 15 points. Keltner finished his career with 975 points, while Karl led the team in scoring this season at 13.3 points per game.

Valley Forge Christian advances to the NCCAA National Tournament which will be held from March 5th to the 9th in Springfield, Missouri.