The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team dropped its second straight game to begin the season on Friday night, falling to Franklin & Marshall, 68-54 on the opening night of the William Marshall Tip-Off Tournament in Lancaster, Pa. The Chargers are 0-2 overall this season, while the Diplomats improved to 1-0.
 
How it Happened: Franklin & Marshall opened the contest on a 9-0 run over the first five minutes of the game, and two free throws by Luke Beers at the 14:53 mark finally got the Chargers on the board. Junior William Afoakwah's layup 6:15 into the game was the first basket for the Chargers, and even with the slow start, Lancaster Bible trailed just 11-7 after a 3-pointer from Britton Beachy 30 seconds after Afoakwah's layup.
 
Unfortunately for the Chargers, Beachy's bucket would be the team's last for almost seven minutes, as the Diplomats embarked on a 14-0 run, and led 25-7, before Tyler Norris' layup with 6:21 to play broke up the run.
 
Franklin & Marshall led by as many as 22 later in the half, but the Chargers closed the half on an 8-2 run, and trailed 39-23 after 20 minutes of play.
 
The Diplomats led, 45-30 just four minutes into the second half, but the Chargers began an 8-0 run over the next four minutes with a bucket from Adam Stoltzfus, and eventually trailed just 45-38 with 12:35 remaining.
 
Lancaster Bible would not get any closer however, as the Chargers couldn't  get over the hump, and the Diplomats closed out the game for their first win.
 
Statistically Speaking: Lancaster Bible shot 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field, and just 13.3 percent (2-of-15) from 3-point range…The Diplomats shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the field, and 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from beyond the arc…Afoakwah led the Chargers with 13 points, and added nine rebounds…Tyler Norris had 11 points as well, while Britton Beachy had eight points, seven rebounds, and two steals…Jordan Shewbridge had a solid all-around game with six points, five assists and three steals, and three rebounds…Jackson Henri added eight points and six rebounds,
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 1-4 all-time against F&M…The teams last played on Nov. 18, 2016, and the Diplomats won, 94-91 in overtime…The Chargers lone win against F&M came on Nov. 21, 2015 in Grantham, Pa., as Lancaster Bible won, 94-66…Friday night marked the Chargers first road game of the season…Lancaster Bible was 6-7 on the road last season.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible will face Marywood in the tournament's consolation game on Saturday evening at 5:30 p.m.