New year, new team? The jury is still out on that question, but for one night anyway, the Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team showed maybe the change of the calendar from 2019 to 2020 will be a boost of some kind, as the Chargers dominated Juniata, 75-49 on Thursday night at Horst Athletic Center. The Chargers, who earned their first-ever win over Juniata with the victory, improved to 2-6 overall with the victory, while the Eagles fell to 3-8.
 
How it Happened: Lancaster Bible opened the game on a 5-0 run, as a 3-pointer from Brett Bechler and a jumper from Luke Beers on the Chargers' first two possessions set the tone early. Lancaster Bible would eventually lead 10-2 after a layup from Tyler Norris, but neither team put forth an offensive performance to remember in the opening 20 minutes, as the Chargers led just 21-14 with eight minutes to play.
 
The Chargers maintained their lead throughout the first half, but a late layup from Juniata's John Kelly cut Lancaster Bible's advantage to just two, 27-25 at halftime.
 
Both teams started slowly again in the second half, but a 3-pointer from Jordan Shewbirdge with 15:08 remaining gave the Chargers a 36-30 lead, and helped spark an offensive run that would last for the remainder of the game. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Bechler and Shewbridge extended Lancaster Bible's lead to 45-31, and the Chargers maintained that lead for close to eight minutes.
 
Leading 54-40 with 6:50 to play, Lancaster Bible used a 9-0 run to seal the game, as a three-point play from Norris, and a layup from Britton Beachy in transition helped the Chargers open a 23-point lead. Lancaster Bible took its largest lead of the game with 48 seconds to play on a jumper from Caleb Carpenter, 75-47, though Juniata's Zach Engle converted a nice layup in the paint with 23 seconds to play to produce the final score.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot a season-best 57.7 percent (30-of-52) from the field, including 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from 3-point range…Juniata shot 32.7 percent (16-of-49) from the floor, and just 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from beyond the arc…Shewbridge finished with a game-high 23 points, as he was 8-of-15 from the field, including 6-of-11 from 3-point range…Shewbridge also added five steals, four assists, and three rebounds…Luke Beers added nine points, five rebounds, and three assists, while Kaleb Murry had nine points and four assists in his Lancaster Bible debut…Norris had seven points and four boards, and William Afoakwah had five points and eight rebounds…Cameron Keck had 15 points to lead Juniata.
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 1-5 all-time against Juniata…The Chargers lost to the Eagles, 81-63 last season in Huntingdon, Pa…Thursday marked the fourth straight season the two teams have opened the calendar year against one another…Lancaster Bible is now 1-2 at Horst Athletic Center this season…The 26-point victory is the most lopsided win for the Chargers since a 91-52 win over Penn St. Berks on Jan. 16, 2019…Shewbridge posted 23 or more points for the third time in eight games, and for the second straight game…Lancaster Bible's previous best shooting percentage this season was 46.7 percent in the team's win over Marywood on November 16.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible is right back on the floor on Saturday night, as the Chargers head to Grantham, Pa. to face Messiah at 7 p.m.