Lancaster Bible 71, Penn St. Abington 61

Penn St. Abington Starters
Podolski, Randolph III, Semmler, Harris & Odumosu
 
LBC Starters
Seth Beers, Tyler Hilton, Grant Sareyka, Jordan Shewbridge & Adam Stoltzfus
 
How It Happened
The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team used a second half surge to knock off Penn St. Abington by a score of 71-61 on Tuesday, January 25.
 
The Chargers (10-6 Overall, 6-1 United East) got on the board early when after Grant Sareyka collected an offensive rebound and found Seth Beers for the team's first points of the game. Penn St. Abington (8-8 Overall, 2-5 United East) connect on a 3-pointer to grab the early 6-4 lead. Neither offense found a lot of success early in the game, with the score tied at six with just over 13 minutes remaining in the half. Adam Stoltzfus and Sareyka each finished layups, helping LBC take a four-point advantage. Abington answered back, going on an 8-0 run to take a 19-14 lead. The Chargers began to rally back, with Stoltzfus scoring a layup to cut the deficit back down to two. With four minutes remaining in the half, Jordan Shewbridge scored a layup to tie the game at 22. The teams traded the lead back-and-forth in the closing minutes of the half, with Sareyka tying the game at 32 just before the half.
 
LBC grabbed the lead early in the second half with Shewbridge draining a 3-pointer to put the Chargers ahead 37-32. The Chargers kept the advantage throughout most of the second half, but the Lions kept pace, eventually tying the game at 45 with 12:17 remaining. Maureon Tisdale-Couch answered back finishing a layup in the paint to put the Chargers up by two. Ethan Beachy added a layup his own off a pass from Jordan Praylow to extend the lead to four. Later in the quarter, leading 54-47, Shewbridge caught fire, burying a 3-pointer in transition and then he came away with a steal and score to put LBC ahead 56-47. The Chargers kept rolling with Beers hitting a 3-pointer to put LBC ahead by eight with 4:49 remaining. Sareyka put the exclamation point on the victory knocking down back-to-back 3-pointer to put LBC ahead by 12 with :38 seconds remaining. The Chargers held on for the 71-61 victory.   
 
Inside the Numbers
- Grant Sareyka led the Chargers' offense scoring 19 points while hitting a pair of 3-pointers
- Jordan Shewbridge added 14 points and he swiped three steals
- Adam Stoltzfus posted a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling in 10 rebounds
- Seth Beers reached double figures, scoring 11 points
- Penn St. Abington was led by Darrion Harris who scored 19 points
- The Chargers swiped nine steals, forcing 14 turnovers
 
Coaching Points
"I am very proud of our team tonight!  Tonight, was a culture win for us," said head coach John Mack. "Our offense faded at times, but our defense remained constant and carried us to the finish line. In the first half, we struggled to make shots and convert off stops.  I thought we got plenty stops but we weren't rewarding ourselves on the other end. I thought in the second half, we put together two significant runs by getting consecutive stops and scores to create separation down the stretch. I also thought our free throw shooting was a contributing factor to our win. I was displeased with the amount of extra possessions we gave Abington on the boards and off our turnovers. We must do a better job of minimizing extra possessions for our opponents, especially on the road. We will look to grow and learn from this win and prepare for a big conference road trip this weekend."
 
Who's Next
The men's basketball team will head to New York to face SUNY Morrisville on Friday, January 28 with the tip-off scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
 
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