The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team won its third straight game on Thursday night as the Chargers defeated St. Elizabeth, 96-82 in Morristown, N.J. The Chargers are now 5-7 overall and 5-2 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play, while the Eagles dropped to 3-8 overall and 2-5 in NEAC contests.

How it Happened: With the game tied 5-5 in the early going, the Chargers went on a 12-3 run to open a 17-8 lead 4:51 into the game. Junior Herbie Brown capped the run with a three-point play as he converted a layup, was fouled and made the adjoining free throw. Another 9-0 scoring run by the Chargers midway through the opening half gave Lancaster Bible a 26-11 advantage with 11:58 remaining. 

A Jason Kuntzelman 3-pointer sandwiched between two Austin Brown 3-pointers, followed by back-to-back layups from Alex Whitt, gave the Chargers a 41-20 lead with 5:44 left in the first half. St. Elizabeth battled back on its home floor in the final minutes of the first half and outscored the Chargers, 13-4, as Lancaster Bible led 45-33 at the half. 

Sophomore Quentin Davis scored the first five points of the second half for Lancaster Bible as the Chargers restored their 17-point lead at 50-33. Lancaster Bible continued to lead by double digits in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Eagles continued to chip away and trailed by just ten, 59-49, with 13:41 to play, after a jumper from Michael Manso. 

St. Elizabeth was in foul trouble throughout the second half and the Chargers continued to control the game via made free throws. Lancaster Bible maintained its double digit lead as the game turned into a free throw fest. The Chargers were 23-of-31 from the line in the second half, while the Eagles were 14-of-21. 

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 61.5 percent (32-of-52) from the floor, including 7-of-14 from beyond the arc and 25-of-34 from the free throw line...St. Elizabeth shot 41.3 percent (31-of-75) from the field and just 5-of-24 from 3-point range...Austin Brown led six scorers in double figures for the Chargers with 18 points, while Davis finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds, both career highs...Luke Beers had his best collegiate game with 15 points, five rebounds and two steals...Whitt and Kuntzelman both had 11 points, while Herbie Brown had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists...Bill Livezey had nine points and five assists...Jason Saldivieri had a game-high 25 points, though that was 26 points fewer than he had two nights ago, when he dropped 51 in an overtime win over Penn St. Berks.

The Coach Says: "It's good to get another win and we had some moments tonight where we played very well, specifically at the beginning of the game," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Zach Filzen said. "The guys understand we are getting better and beginning to take positive steps. We are playing better for longer stretches of time and we need to keep building off of these conference wins. I'm excited about this group and as has been the goal all year, we are trying to play our best ball at the end of the season and I believe we are beginning to take the steps in that direction."

Information Hodge Podge: This was the first meeting between the teams as this is the first season of men's basketball at St. Elizabeth...The 25 made free throws, as well as the 34 attempts were the most for the Chargers this season...Lancaster Bible's 61.5 shooting percentage was a season-high...Lancaster Bible has both scored and given up 334 field goals this season...Through 12 games, Lancaster Bible has scored 927 points and given up 930...The Chargers 5-2 NEAC record has them in sole possession of second place in the NEAC South Division.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible wraps up its long week on Saturday with a game at Penn St. Abington at 3 p.m.