The gamut of emotions was on full display at Horst Athletic Center on Tuesday night as the Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team celebrated their seniors, fell behind early, clawed its way back into game and overcame a left deficit to defeat Bryn Athyn, 74-73 on Senior Night. The victory secures the second seed in the North Eastern Athletic Conference South Division and the Chargers will host a NEAC Quarterfinal on Tuesday, February 21 at a time to be determined. The victory moves the Chargers to 11-12 overall and 11-8 in NEAC play, while the Lions fell to 10-13 overall and 8-10 in conference play.
 
How it Happened: The basket for Bryn Athyn might as well have been the size of the Grand Canyon throughout the first half as the Lions seemingly didn't miss from 3-point range. The visitors knocked down 11 first-half 3-pointers, including seven of their first eight attempts. The hot shooting sent the Lions out to a 12-2 lead just 3:18 into the contest and Bryn Athyn extended it to 15-4 with 15:35 to play in the first on a triple from Troy Steed.
 
Lancaster Bible tried to get back into the game, but time and time again, Bryn Athyn simply went down the floor and knocked down a shot from distance. Devante Laws gave the Lions a 24-11 lead midway through the first half, but Lancaster Bible finally got some things going offensively and used a 10-2 run over the next two minutes and trailed just 26-21 after a layup from freshman Brett Cataudella.
 
The Lions again went up by double digits just three minutes later on another 3-pointer, this one by Stephan Tucker, but the Chargers fought back again and trailed by just six, 41-35 at halftime.
 
Bryn Athyn maintained its five-point lead early in the second half, but back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore Jason Kuntzelman and junior Herbie Brown, gave the Chargers their first lead of the game at 46-45 with 17:17 to play. The game was close the rest of the way, with neither team holding a lead larger than three points.
 
After sophomore Alex Whitt gave Lancaster Bible a 66-63 lead with 4:55 remaining, Austin Nyekan tied the game at 66-66 and then Bryn Athyn took a 69-68 lead two possessions later as Laws hit the team's 18th and final 3-pointer of the game.
 
Two free throws from Christian Rivera gave the Lions a 71-68 lead with 1:37 to play, but the Chargers came down the floor and got the ball down low to Cataudella who converted another layup to cut Lancaster Bible's deficit to one, 71-70, with 1:10 to play.
 
Rivera came down on the following possession and knocked down a deep two-pointer to restore Bryn Athyn's, 73-70 lead. Herbie Brown again cut the Chargers' deficit to one on the following possession as he knocked down a tough shot in the paint with 22 seconds remaining. Bryn Athyn couldn't inbound the ball and the officials blew the whistle prior to the Lions being able to call timeout and the Chargers took possession of the ball underneath the basket.
 
Junior Bill Livezey's inbounds pass found Cataudella who converted his 11th field goal of the night and gave the Chargers a 74-73 lead with 19 seconds to play. Cataudella was fouled on the play, but couldn't knock down the free throw and Bryn Athyn got the rebound and called timeout with 16.9 seconds to play.
Bryn Athyn held the ball for a final shot and as Rivera drove to the basket, the ball was deflected away from him by sophomore Quentin Davis and Herbie Brown chased down the loose ball and held it as time expired.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the floor, including 8-of-19 from 3-point range…Bryn Athyn shot 49 percent (24-of-49) from the field, including an incredible 64.3 percent (18-of-28) from beyond the arc…Cataudella finished with 22 points on 11-of-13 shooting and added seven rebounds…Herbie Brown had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with four assists and three rebounds…Davis had nine points, three rebounds and two assists…Luke Beers finished with eight points, while Kuntzelman had six points, six boards and four assists…Livezey had five points and five helpers…Steed and Laws each had 19 points for Bryn Athyn as Laws had six 3-pointers and Steed had five.
 
The Coach Says: "For our young team, this was the most composure we have had all season long in a close game down the stretch," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Zach Filzen said. "To get a stop, a bucket, execute defensively to get a five-second call, and then run a great inbound play, I thought we did very well in the final two minutes and it was huge for us to keep fighting like that."
 
On Cataudella's Play: "He is developing skill wise and all-around," Filzen said. "His mentality has greatly developed over the past two months and he is a tougher player than he was at the beginning of the season. His grit and determination were evident tonight."
 
On the Final Weekend of the Regular Season: "I want us to play two great games and feel good about ourselves as we head into the conference tournament," Filzen said. "We've said all year that we want to be playing our best ball as we enter the tournament and this weekend will go a long way in helping us do that."
 
Information Hodge Podge: Lancaster Bible is now 8-1 all-time against Bryn Athyn…The Chargers defeated the Lions, 68-65 in overtime in the first meeting of the teams this season…Tuesday marked Cataudella's third game of 20 points or more this season…The Chargers have shot 50 percent or better from the field in three of their last six games…The 18 3-point field goals given up by the Chargers are the most they've allowed this season and just the sixth time a team has knocked down double-digit 3-pointers in a game against Lancaster Bible…Lancaster Bible held a 31-19 rebounding edge over Bryn Athyn on Tuesday…The Chargers had just 11 turnovers on Tuesday night.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible will conclude the regular season in upstate New York this weekend as the Chargers face North Division leaders SUNY Polytechnic on Friday at 7 p.m. and will play SUNY Cobleskill on Saturday at 3 p.m…Lancaster Bible's NEAC Quarterfinal on the 21st will be against an opponent to be determined at a time to be determined.