The Lancaster Bible men's basketball team overcame a slow start and difficult Cazenovia defense to win its program-record 10th straight game, 62-54 on Friday night at Horst Athletic Center. Senior Albert Suniga and junior Dondre Perry each had 15 points to pace the Chargers on Kistler Tiffany Benefits Night at Lancaster Bible College. 

The night was anything but easy for the Chargers as they struggled to deal with Cazenovia's trapping 1-3-1 defense and had just six points with under nine minutes to play in the first half. Though the Chargers were having difficulty putting the ball in the hoop, Lancaster Bible's defense held its own and gave the slumbering offense time to wake up.

And wake up it did as the Chargers poured in 24 points over the final 8:29 to take a 30-18 lead into halftime. Two big dunks by CJ Dunston highlighted the scoring run to end the half and Perry's 3-pointer as time expired in the first half capped a 24-8 run that saw the Chargers turn a 10-6 deficit into a 30-18 lead.

Led by senior Naheer Mirza who sunk three 3-pointers in a 1:20 span, the Chargers took a commanding 45-24 lead with 13:52 to play. After Mirza's shots went in however, the Chargers offense once again began to struggle and this time the defense was as stout which allowed Cazenovia to close the gap. Back-to-back free throws from Daniel Cunningham with 4:38 to play cut the Cazenovia deficit to 52-47.

A jumper, followed by a 3-pointer, from Suniga increased the Chargers' lead back to 10 with 3:30 to play, but Cazenovia once again trimmed the deficit to five with 1:42 remaining thanks in part to two free throws from Brad LeFevre. Once again though it was Suniga who came through in the clutch and hit a fastbreak layup off of a great full-length pass from Dunston with 1:39 to play.

Cazenovia would never get closer than five as freshman Herbie Brown put the finishing touches on the win with two free throws with three seconds remaining. 

The 10 straight victories by Lancaster Bible sets a new program record that was previously held by the 2000-01 team that won nine straight during January and February of 2001. In addition to being proud of the team for setting a new program record, Lancaster Bible Head Coach Marshall Tague was also fairly pleased with the way the Chargers handled Cazenovia's tough defense.

"We put in a new offense for Cazenovia's system just two days ago and when you do something like that, you don' expect perfection from the guys," Tague said. "We just don't see that type of defense very often and it's tough to simulate in practice. We knew it would be a challenge and you have to hit shots to be successful and though we didn't at first, we hit enough shots and got some big shots from guys throughout the game."

Tague agreed that he thought Lancaster Bible's team defense was effective on Friday evening.

"Other than getting a little loose after we went up 20, I thought the team defense was pretty good tonight," Tague said. "I thought we did a good job of identifying their strengths and weaknesses and guys played well."

In addition to his 15 points, Perry added 10 rebounds giving him just the second double-double of his collegiate career. His only other double-double came last season on January 11, 2014 against Penn St. Berks when he had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Junior CJ Dunston added 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals, while Mirza finished with nine points and five assists.

Lancaster Bible will need another solid effort on the defensive end on Saturday if they are to defeat Morrisville State, the reigning three-time NEAC Champion. Saturday will be the first time the two teams have met since last season's NEAC Final in which the Mustangs defeated the Chargers, 73-65. Morrisville State then went on to the NCAA Division III National Tournament where they advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to 2013 NCAA Champion Amherst.

Saturday's game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. 

Notes:
-Lancaster Bible is now 5-0 all-time against Cazenovia.

-The Chargers defeated Morrisville State during the Mustangs regular season visit to Lancaster last season. Lancaster Bible won that game, 59-57.