Box Score What's a Saturday afternoon without a little drama?

With 10:28 to play in the second half of Saturday's North Eastern Athletic Conference tilt between SUNYIT and Lancaster Bible, the Chargers had taken over the game and led by 22 points, 64-42. Four minutes later, the Wildcats had trimmed the deficit to 11 and with 2:47 to go, a layup by Malcom Jones on the fastbreak cut it to six, 72-66. Back-to-back defensive stops gave Lancaster Bible some breathing room and the Chargers iced it in the final minute as they hit seven of eight free throws en route to an 82-73 victory.

The win helps the Chargers maintain their 1 1/2 game lead over Morrisville State in the conference standings with eight games remaining.

Junior Albert Suniga led five Lancaster Bible players in double figures with 18 points, while sophomore CJ Dunston added 14 points and 12 rebounds for his third straight double-double and ninth of the season. Sophomore Dondre Perry had 10 points, while junior Naheer Mirza had 11 points and five assists. Sophomore Kurt Keltner had his best game of the season with 10 points and five assists off the bench.

Through all of the scoring however, it was the Lancaster Bible defense that won them the game. The Chargers held SUNYIT 13 points below their season average and disrupted their offensive game for almost a full 40 minutes.

"The defense started everything today," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Marshall Tague said. "We've got guys who are committed to playing defense. Kurt brings things that no one else brings with his size and speed, while guys like CJ use their athleticism and length to disrupt shots and passes. It was just a great team effort again."

SUNYIT's run in the second half obviously caused some headaches, but Tague said the Chargers regained their composure well.

"We had some bad fouls and made some bad decisions offensively, but overcoming those things is part of growing up and I think we responded well late in the half," Tague said.

The Chargers return to the floor next Friday when they head to New York to take on Morrisville State at 5 p.m. The Mustangs, last year's NEAC Champions, have played well of late and will look to avenge their loss in Lancaster on December 7.


Notes:
-Saturday's win was the first for LBC against SUNYIT as they are now 1-2 in three all-time meetings.

-Dunston's 55.1 shooting percentage from the floor is second in the NEAC.

-SUNYIT came into the game average 86.3 points per game and was held below 80 points for just the fifth time this season.

-These two teams meet again on the final weekend of the season, Friday, Feb. 21 in Utica, N.Y.