The Lancaster Bible men's basketball team entered Christmas Break on a high note Monday night as the Chargers defeated Mount Aloysius, 90-73 in Cresson, Pa. for the team's sixth straight victory. Junior CJ Dunston had a game-high 22 points to lead five players in double figures as the Chargers defeated the Mounties for the first time since the 2010-11 season and for just the fifth time in 19 tries.

On Monday, it was the Mounties who controlled play early on as they took their largest lead of the game at 24-19 with 10:59 to play in the opening half thanks to a 3-point play from Joe Dziabo. For the next 31 minutes however, it was all Chargers, all the time. The four minutes following Dziabo's 3-point play were the turning point as the Chargers went on a 18-3 run and turned a five-point deficit into a 10-point lead. 

The scoring run was sandwiched by two dunks, the first from Dunston, 46 seconds after Dziabo's free throw and 3:52 later fellow junior Dre Perry put an exclamation mark on the run as he stole the ball and raced down the court for the dunk. In between the dunks, the Chargers were 7-of-8 from the field, including two 3-pointers from Naheer Mirza. Though they scored 18 points in just under four minutes, it was the Chargers' defense that aided the run more than anything. Lancaster Bible forced five Mount Aloysius turnovers during the run as the Mounties were just 1-for-3 from the floor as the Chargers took the game over.

"We had a bit of a slow start, but the guys cranked up the defense," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Marshall Tague said. 

Lancaster Bible didn't stop there as they scored 52 points in the first half, tying a season-high for one half, and led by 14 points at the break. Dunston had 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals in the first half, by far his most productive half of the year.

"CJ was all over the place in the first half," Tague said. "Offensively, defensively, he was just really good."

There was no letdown in the second half either as the Chargers scored the first five points of the second half and led 57-38 with just over 17 minutes to play. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before a free throw from Perry gave Lancaster Bible a 70-48 advantage with 10:36 to play. The Chargers would eventually lead by as many as 24 at 78-54 thanks to some great play from freshman Herbie Brown and the rest of the team off the bench.

Lancaster Bible improves to 6-1 this season with the victory as the opening day debacle at Messiah almost feels like it happened to another team. Despite being winners of five straight prior to Monday night, Lancaster Bible wanted to win badly on Monday and enter break on a good feeling after they wasted that opportunity last season.

Last year, the Chargers won four straight games prior to Finals Week, including a 59-57 thriller over defending NEAC Champion Morrisville State, but lost to Mount Aloysius and Bryn Athyn following final exams to enter Christmas Break with a record of 4-5 and losers of two straight.

"We were focused and determined and wanted to finish this part of the season on a positive note," Tague said. "We talked a little bit about last season and our effort prior to Christmas Break. There wasn't a whole lot of direct talk about it, but we all know what happened last season."

Tague credited the team's defensive effort and ability to get easy buckets as the reasons for the victory on Monday.

"We got a great defensive effort from everyone and there were lots of layups in transition and our halfcourt play," Tague said. "One of these days we'll shoot some 3's, but that will come."

Tague mentioned the solid play of several members of the team on Monday night, including Nick Monroe, Luke Roundy and Herbie Brown.

"Nick was solid tonight, he had a great week of practice and played some really important minutes," Tague said. "Luke was 6-of-6 from the floor and finished everything down low and Herbie was 6-of-7 from the floor in nine minutes, so obviously that's great. We just had a determined team who wanted to finish the semester the right way."

With the team playing so well, Tague was asked if this was a good time for such a lengthy break in the schedule.

"Breaks are good and this is great time to be with family," Tague said. "Everyone gets to take a break mentally and it's nice to go into the break on a high note. I think if we would have been playing poorly I would want to keep playing, but this break will be good for all of us."

In addition to Dunston's 22 points, Perry finished with 16 points, while Mirza, Roundy and Brown each added 12 points. Senior Albert Suniga had yet another typical Suniga game as he had six points, eight rebounds and seven assists. 

The game featured 56 combined free throws as the Chargers were 22-of-30 from the line and the Mounties were 18-of-26. In addition to the solid effort from the line, Lancaster Bible shot 57.1 percent (32-of-56) from the floor, while Mount Aloysius shot just 36.9 percent (24-of-65).

Lancaster Bible returns to the court on Monday, January 5, 2015 when the Chargers face old NCCAA East Region rival Cairn at 6 p.m. in Horst Athletic Center. The Chargers and Highlanders have not played since the 2011-12 season when Lancaster Bible defeated then-Philadelphia Biblical twice, once during the regular season and once in the NCCAA East Region Semifinal. The Highlanders are coached by recent Lancaster Bible graduates Jason O'Connell and Jon Bishop. 

Though it was a formality with a win or loss on Monday, this is the first time the Chargers have been at or above the .500 mark at Christmas break for the first time since the 2009-10 season when Lancaster Bible was 4-4 at the break.

Notes:
-Lancaster Bible improves to 5-14 all-time against Mount Aloysius. 

-The Chargers have four players who are averaging double-digit points per game, led by Perry who stands at 14.3 points per game.