Facing Morrisville State for the first time since the Mustangs won the North Eastern Athletic Conference title on its home floor last March, the Lancaster Bible men's basketball team exacted a small piece of revenge on Saturday as the Chargers defeated Morrisville State, 79-67. Junior Dondre Perry led all scorers with 21 points as the Chargers improved to 11-1 overall and 6-0 in NEAC play.

A back-and-forth game from the opening tip, the two teams traded baskets for the first five minutes, though Morrisville State held a slim lead. That changed when Lancaster Bible senior Naheer Mirza second 3-pointer of the game at the 16:20 mark to give the Chargers a 12-11 lead. Lancaster Bible would never trail again, though their lead would be tested several times in the second half.

Morrisville State went without a bucket for a five minute span and in the process fell behind Lancaster Bible, 19-12. After the 10-minute mark however, both teams settled in and began scoring on a more frequent basis. The Chargers' lead would fluctuate between four and six points for much of the first half until senior Albert Suniga hit a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining in the first half to give Lancaster Bible a 41-33 halftime advantage.

It was the first time in six games against Morrisville State that the Chargers held a halftime lead. Last season, the Chargers trailed by scores of 25-23, 51-40 and 42-23 in their games against the Mustangs as the Chargers went 1-2 in those games. Though it was just an eight point lead, the Chargers controlled much of the first half, something that rolled over to the second half as well and gave Lancaster Bible the confidence it needed.

The teams continued to trade baskets early in the second half, but a 3-pointer from Lancaster Bible's CJ Dunston gave the Chargers a 48-38 lead with 15:45 to play. The lead continued to grow thanks to great production from the Lancaster Bible bench. Corey Leonard seemed to be everywhere and had several key buckets in the second half, while a fastbreak layup from Nick Monroe gave the Chargers a 58-43 lead with 11:57 remaining. 

Five straight points from Morrisville State trimmed the deficit to 10, but a free throw from Herbie Brown followed by three points the old fashioned way from Jordan Mellinger gave the Chargers a 14-point lead with 9:10 to play. The Mustangs, as they've shown time and time again, did not quit and cut the deficit to six on a 3-pointer from Tyler Bliss with 5:38 to play.

Lancaster Bible scored the game's next five points and increased the lead back to double digits with less than four minutes to play. Lancaster Bible maintained its lead down the stretch and Perry's dunk with 40 seconds to go sealed the deal as the Chargers won their 11th straight game.

"I thought we controlled the game for the most part and had a solid effort the whole game," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Marshall Tague said. "I think there was a few times Morrisville could have cut it to four and if they do maybe things are different, but I thought we made them work for their chances and played well defensively."

Tague credited the team's ball possession as one of the key factors of the win as the Chargers had a season-low 10 turnovers.

"Not turning the ball over is big for us and the fact that we were able to create chances and not lose possession of the ball was important," Tague said. 

The other factor Tague mentioned was the team's defense, specifically on Morrisville State's guards.

"Keeping their guards in front of us was big," Tague said. "We didn't allow them to get inside very often and find an open player down low or out high. I'm not sure CJ could have done a better job on number 5 (Ibrahima Toure), Albert and Jordan busted their tails all game long and I thought today was Corey Leonard's best game of the season."

In addition to Perry's 21 points, Mirza finished with 15 points, while Dunston had 14 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Suniga also scored in double figures as he had 10 points to go along with six assists.

Lancaster Bible will play its final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday when the Chargers host Valley Forge at 7 p.m.

Notes:
-Lancaster Bible is now 2-4 all-time against Morrisville State.

-The loss drops the Mustangs to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in NEAC play this season.

-Morrisville State will face Penn St. Berks in Reading, Pa. on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.