Box Score The Lancaster Bible men's basketball team is headed to uncharted territory on Saturday as the Chargers will be appearing in the NCCAA Division II National Championship Game thanks to their hard-fought 64-52 victory over 3rd-seeded Grace Bible on Friday night in Circleville, Ohio. Lancaster Bible is now 27-3 this season and will face Cinderella 8th-seed Hillsdale Baptist in Saturday's Final. Hillsdale Baptist defeated 4th-seeded Dallas Christian, 65-56 on Friday evening.

Lancaster Bible and Grace Bible engaged in a back-and-forth affair the entire first half as neither team held a lead larger than three points. The Tigers entered halftime with a 22-21 lead despite scoring just four points in the final 3:41 of the opening half. The Chargers shot just 8-of-28 in the first half, including 1-of-8 from beyond the arc.

The second half began exactly the same way the first half did as the teams went up-and-down the floor matching each other possession for possession. Lancaster Bible senior Corey Leonard hit a 3-pointer with 12:14 remaining to tie the game at 36-36 and a 3-pointer from CJ Dunston 1:13 later gave Lancaster Bible a 41-38 lead and the Chargers would never trail again.

The Tigers cut the deficit to one at 47-46, but a 3-pointer from Dondre Perry with 6:05 left, increased the lead back to four for the Chargers. Another bucket from Perry two minutes later, followed by a 3-pointer from Naheer Mirza gave Lancaster Bible a 58-48 lead with 3:27 to play. Grace Bible cut the deficit to six at 58-52, but two straight buckets from Dunston restored Lancaster Bible's 10-point lead with 1:51 to play. 

"There were two pretty good defensive teams on the floor today," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Marshall Tague said. "Our defense kept us in it when we couldn't make anything to go in the hoop."

Lancaster Bible was 13-of-27 from the floor in the second half, and although they shot just 4-of-14 from beyond the arc, all four of the 3-pointers came at big moments. Dunston finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Perry had 19 points. Senior Naheer Mirza chipped in with eight points and four assists, while fellow senior Corey Leonard had seven points.

"Grace played a good zone, but CJ was aggressive and I thought he played well inside and got some big buckets for us," Tague said. 

Tague said Saturday's opponent, Hillsdale Baptist, will be tough, but that the Chargers will be ready.

"Hillsdale is playing with lots of confidence and they are a scrappy team," Tague said. "They play an aggressive zone and have a good guard and big guy. It should be a good game."

Saturday will mark the fourth straight day Hillsdale Baptist has had to play. The Saints had to play in one of Wednesday's play-in games as they defeated Piedmont International, 77-60. On Thursday, Hillsdale Baptist took out top-seeded Ohio Christian, 82-80, before downing Dallas Christian, 65-56 Friday night. The Chargers will also be playing more games in a row than they have all season as Lancaster Bible has played several back-to-backs this season, but has never played three straight days.

Tague also said that while the team had its eyes on winning a North Eastern Athletic Conference Championship for much of the season, the goal has shifted to winning the NCCAA Div. II National Championship.

"We didn't set out to do this at the beginning of the year, but it's here now and we knew this was possible," Tague said. "We will be ready and the guys are embracing this chance."

Saturday's NCCAA Div. II National Championship will be played at 5 p.m. and can been seen live at the link below. It costs $6.95 to watch the game if you haven't already bought the full-tournament pass.

Notes:
-Lancaster Bible now has 399 wins in program history.

-Lancaster Bible and Hillsdale Baptist have never met in men's basketball action.

-Lancaster Bible now leads the all-time series against Grace Bible, 2-1.