CJ Dunston's runner as time expired helped Lancaster Bible to its ninth straight win on Saturday as the Chargers defeated Penn St. Abington, 66-64 in Abington, Pa. Dunston finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds as Lancaster Bible improved to 9-1 overall and 4-0 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play. 

Saturday's game couldn't have started worse for the Chargers as Penn St. Abington scored on four of its first five possessions and led 12-4 just 2:38 into the contest. Lancaster Bible quickly answered however and used an 8-0 run, capped by a dunk from Dunston, to tie the game at 12-12. 

Lancaster Bible's momentum was stopped dead however as Penn St. Abington continued its hot shooting and eventually took its biggest lead of the game at 30-19 after back to back free throws from Devin Jones with 7:23 remaining in the first half.

The Chargers used the rest of the first half trimming the deficit and though they got it to three at one point, Lancaster Bible went into halftime trailing by five at 36-31.

"It was just an awful start, I mean it really couldn't have been any worse, yet we got some buckets and finished the half well," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Marshall Tague said. "I think the fact that we were able to get some easy buckets and start to establish ourselves gave us some confidence heading into halftime."

The second half was a back and forth affair that saw five lead changes and the score tied five different times. Lancaster Bible took its first lead of the game, 39-38, with 18:11 to play on a layup from Dunston. Abington roared right back and increased its lead to as many as six as Dequan Jackson's layup with 13:39 remaining gave the Nittany Lions a 49-43 lead. 

Freshman Herbie Brown ended a 6-0 run for the Chargers as his layup with 11:01 remaining tied the game at 49-49. More end-to-end action ensued, but the Nittany Lions began to pull away again as Jones hit a 3-pointer with 8:12 to go to give Abington a 56-51 lead. Three-pointers from Albert Suniga and Naheer Mirza gave the Chargers just their second lead of the game, 57-56, with 6:31 to play.

Neither team led by more than three the rest of the way and Abington's Jackson made one of two free throws with 34 seconds to play to tie the game at 64-64. The Chargers worked the ball down the floor and held the ball for a last shot. After several passes, Mirza found Dunston in the corner. Dunston faked out defender with a shot fake and drove around another defender before floating the ball up and end from the baseline as time expired.

Dunston's 31 points are the second highest he has scored in a game trailing only his 32-point effort at Morrisville State on February 7, 2014.

"CJ had to play like that today, we needed him," Tague said. "He is the best player in the conference and Abington plays a tough zone and when you can have someone in the paint who can score like CJ can, it makes things easier for everyone else. CJ was really good today and shot the ball very well."

Dunston was 14-of-18 from the floor on Saturday and is now shooting 69.4 percent (68-of-98) from the floor this season which is tops in the NEAC and is the sixth best mark in NCAA Division III. 

Mirza finished with nine points and three assists, while Dondre Perry had eight points and four boards.

"I thought a lot of guys did little things that really helped us," Tague said. "Jordan Mellinger was pesky on defense and Luke Roundy had a couple of big blocks for us."

After playing three games this week, the Chargers (9-1, 4-0 NEAC) will play just twice next week and not until Friday when they host Cazenovia at 7 p.m. 

"It feels like we have been going hard every day for two weeks, so the mini-break will be nice," Tague said. "The fact that we get to play at home next weekend in front of our fans is big for us."

Notes:
-Lancaster Bible's nine straight wins tie a program record that was set during the 2000-01 season.

-Dunston is also second in the NEAC with 8.7 rebounds per game.