Less than 24 hours after the Lancaster Bible men's basketball team defeated Bryn Athyn, 67-50 to improve to 2-0 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play, the Chargers scored one of their biggest wins of the past few seasons as they defeated NAIA Division II scholarship school Cincinnati Christian, 67-64 at Horst Athletic Center on Sunday. 

The visiting Eagles also played on Saturday as they lost to Point Park, 75-71 in Pittsburgh, Pa. and then traveled east on the Turnpike. Both teams got off to sluggish starts on Sunday as the Chargers held just a 15-11 lead midway through the first half. Lancaster Bible maintained its small lead through the rest of the half and even extended the lead to seven points just before the half as freshman Herbie Brown converted a fastbreak layup off of a pass from CJ Dunston.

For the slowness, and at times, boring play in the first half, the second half was anything but boring and filled with great play and excitement. Cincinnati Christian's Mitch McLeish came out on fire as he buried three straight 3-pointers to give the Eagles a 31-29 advantage. Lancaster Bible's Albert Suniga nailed a 3-pointer two possessions later to restore the Chargers lead and thus began a back-and-forth second half that saw each team grab control of the momentum on several occasions.

A much higher scoring half, both teams traded buckets throughout the second half, but the Chargers finally earned some breathing room with 4:54 to play as Dunston slammed home a dunk to give Lancaster Bible a 56-51 lead. The advantage was short lived however as the Eagles used a 8-3 run to tie the contest at 59-59 with 2:09 to play.

After a layup by Suniga gave Lancaster Bible a two-point lead, Jarrell Moses hit a 3-pointer for the Eagles and gave Cincinnati Christian a 62-21 lead with 1:15 to play. A jumper by Naheer Mirza 20 seconds later restored the Chargers' lead, but once again the Eagles had an answer as Kenny Gaynor drained a shot with 36 seconds to play to give Cincinnati Christian a 64-63 lead. 

Lancaster Bible did not panic and as Mirza brought the ball up the floor, he was fouled at half-court and hit both of the ensuing free throws to give the Chargers a 65-64 lead with 25 seconds to play. After a timeout, the Eagles moved the ball up the floor and found McLeish who pulled up left of the basket, but his shot was blocked by Dunston and Brown grabbed the rebound.

Brown hit both free throws on the other end to give Lancaster Bible a 67-64 lead and McLeish's hurried attempt at the buzzer hit the side of the rim as the horn sounded.

Suniga finished with nine points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Dunston had 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. Jon Bird also finished in double digits as he had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including a huge three-point play down the stretch.

Playing twice in less than 24 hours, Lancaster Bible Head Coach Marshall Tague said he was pleased with the team's effort on Sunday.

"We always talk about effort and energy and those two things are non-negotiable for us," Tague said. "Those things had to be there today and the energy was certainly there on defense, we just have to keep working on the execution, but when we needed a stop at the end, we got it."

Lancaster Bible went 3-0 this week, playing better in each game, something Tague said will go a long way this season.

"If we would have played today like we played on Wednesday, we would have been blown out of the gym," Tague said. "We got better every day from Wednesday on this week and that is important. The wins are great, but we are getting better and that is even more important right now."

It was Suniga on Sunday who did a good job keeping control of things, especially in the second half when things began getting crazy.

"Albert stayed calm today and did a great job making the extra pass, hitting a big 3-pointer and then grabbing a huge offensive rebound," Tague said. "He only had one turnover as well which I know he is proud of and I thought Jon Bird did a really nice job today too."

Lancaster Bible will play its final game of the first semester on Monday, December 15 when the Chargers travel to Cresson, Pa. to take on Mount Aloysius at 6 p.m.