The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team played an exhibition contest against NCAA Division I Delaware State on Wednesday afternoon in Dover, Del., and in the program's first-ever game against a Division I opponent, the Chargers nearly pulled off an epic upset. Lancaster Bible led by seven with 2:45 to play, but couldn't hold on, and lost to the Hornets, 81-80 in a game that doesn't count in the team's overall record, but could pay tremendous dividends over the course of this condensed 2021 season.
 
How it Happened: Lancaster Bible hung with Delaware State in the early part of the first half, despite early offensive woes, but back-to-back buckets from Andrew Zentner and Grant Sareyka pulled the Chargers to within four, 14-10 six minutes into the contest. Both offenses struggled in the middle of the half, as the Hornets outscored the Chargers, 3-0 over the next three minutes of the half.
 
Junior Jordan Shewbridge broke the scoreless drought in a big way for Lancaster Bible with just over 11 minutes to play in the opening half, as he drained two straight 3-pointers and cut the Chargers' deficit to four, 20-16 with 10:45 remaining. Delaware State controlled play over the next four minutes, and stretched its advantage to double digits multiple times, including its largest lead of the game, 45-32 with 3:15 to play in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Lancaster Bible wouldn't go away however, and ended the half on a 6-0 run, as Tyler Hilton, Zentner, and Shewbridge had baskets, and the Chargers trailed just 45-38 at the break.
 
The teams traded baskets over the first seven minutes of the second half, but two free throws and a jumper 1:30 later from Hilton cut Lancaster Bible's deficit to one, 52-51 with 12:33 remaining in the second half. After exchanging buckets again, Delaware State pulled away a bit for an eight-point advantage, 69-61 with just over eight minutes to play. Sareyka knocked down a big 3-pointer prior to the eight-minute media timeout, and the Chargers got another triple from Sareyka after the timeout, and were only down, 69-67 with 6:48 to play.
 
Just 1:30 later, Lancaster Bible took its first lead of the contest when Shewbridge hit a 3-pointer off a feed from Britton Beachy. Baskets from Zentner and Sareyka, and then Zentner again followed Shewbridge's triple, and the Chargers led, 78-71 with 3:22 remaining. A jumper from Shewbridge came after two free throws from Delaware State's Ameer Bennett, and the Chargers took a 80-73 lead into the final 2:45 of the game.
 
Delaware State turned up the defensive pressure and the offensive aggressiveness over the final three minutes, and were rewarded for their efforts with an 8-0 run to end the game. Myles Carter had six of the eight points, as the Chargers did everything they could, but Pinky Wiley's jumper with 21 seconds to play gave the Hornets a one-point lead, and the Chargers couldn't find the game-winner in the final 20 seconds.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 29-of-64 (45.3 percent) from the field, including 10-of-25 (40 percent) from 3-point range…Delaware State was 31-of-68 (45.6 percent) from the floor, and 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from beyond the arc…The Chargers held a 42-35 rebounding edge, but committed 20 turnovers…Shewbridge led six Lancaster Bible players in double figures with 20 points, and also added six rebounds and three assists…Zentner finished with 13 points and 13 boards, and Sareyka had 12 points…Beachy had 10 points, five boards, and three assists, while Tyler Norris had 10 points and four rebounds…Hilton was the final player in double figures with  10 points…Delaware State's Myles Carter led all scorers with 21 points.
 
The Coach Says: "The guys played well this afternoon, and I thought we made some good adjustments in the second half and limited Delaware State's points in the paint, as well as their second-chance points," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Jon Mack said. "It took us a little while to adjust to their size and athleticism, but once we did that, I thought we played well.
 
On the team's performance in the second half: "We talked before the game about competing for the first 36 minutes of the game, and giving ourselves a chance to win the game in the final four minutes," Mack explained. "We did just that, and thought we had a great push from the eight-minute media timeout to the four-minute media timeout, and those final four minutes, we took the lead, and played well, but just couldn't get a bucket to fall in the last 2:45."
 
On the meaning of the game: "It was good to play today, and respond well after Saturday's loss to Salisbury," Mack said. "It was nice to see the ball go through the hoop after our shooting performance on Saturday, and I liked how we moved the ball, made the extra pass, and didn't settle for shots. We made better decisions today, and thought we did a great job defensively in the second half. If we can put things together defensively in both halves, this is an explosive team offensively, and if both those facets of the game can be strong, this team can compete with a lot of teams."
 
News & Notes: This was the first time the Chargers have ever played an NCAA Division I opponent…While the game doesn't count for the Chargers, it does count for the Hornets, and they are now 1-12 overall this season…Because the game is an exhibition for the Chargers, the statistics do not, but despite that, this is the second time in three games Lancaster Bible has had five or more players score in double figures during a contest…Shewbridge has scored 20 points or more two out of three games, and Zentner scored in double digits for the second time as well…Delaware State competes in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible returns home this weekend to host Southern Virginia on Friday night at 7 p.m., and on Saturday at 2 p.m…Both games can be seen on the Chargers Sports Network.