The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team wrapped up its season-opening three-game road trip on Thursday night in St. Davids, Pa. and though the Chargers put together a furious rally over the final five minutes of the game, they came up just short and fell to Eastern, 66-65. The loss drops the Chargers to 1-2 overall this season, while the Eagles stayed perfect on the young season and improved to 5-0.

How it Happened: Lancaster Bible controlled play early as the Chargers jumped out to an 8-4 lead over the opening five minutes. The Eagles responded with an 11-2 run of their own and led 15-10 midway through the opening half. The Chargers knotted the game at 15-15 after a 3-pointer from Adam Stoltzfus and a layup from Grant Sareyka. 

The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, but Eastern dominated the final 5:30, as they finished the half on a 13-5 run and led 32-23 at the break. 

Eastern continued to increase its lead early in the second half, growing it to 14 on two different occasions, the second of which came with 15:53 remaining, as Jaron Fairweather knocked down a jumper in the paint to make it 44-30. Lancaster Bible hung tough however and used an 11-2 run over a 3:53 span to trail just 46-41 with 12:09 to play. Sareyka led the charge for Lancaster Bible, as he had six points during the scoring run.

The teams again went back-and-forth for several minutes, though Eastern began to increase its lead again and after another Fairweather bucket with 7:23 to play, the Eagles led, 60-48. Lancaster Bible trailed by double digits, 64-54 just over three minutes later, but a free throw from Stoltzfus and a layup the next time down the floor cut the deficit to seven. Jordan Shewbridge's 3-pointer the next trip down cut the deficit to four, but Eastern converted two free throws with 1:51 to play to increase the lead back to 66-60. 

After an offensive rebound by Andrew Zentner gave the Chargers an extra possession with under 90 seconds to play, Sareyka drained a 3-pointer to make it 66-63. Eastern went scoreless on its possession, and two free throws from Jordan Praylow cut the Lancaster Bible deficit to 66-65 with 40 seconds to play. 

The Eagles missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 on their end of the floor, but Lancaster Bible couldn't get the go-ahead basket to fall in the final seconds of the game, and Eastern held on for the one-point victory on its home floor. 

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the floor, including 37.5 percent (6-of-18) from 3-point range…The Eagles shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53) from the field and 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from beyond the arc…Each team had 34 points in the paint and turned the ball over 21 times, however the Eagles took advantage of Lancaster Bible's turnovers more so than the Chargers, as Eastern outscored Lancaster Bible, 26-13 in points off turnovers…Sareyka led the Chargers with 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting, while Shewbridge added 14 points…Stoltzfus finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three blocks…Zentner added nine points and six boards off the bench…Fairweather had a team-high 18 points for the Eagles and also added five steals and four assists.

The Coach Says: "We handicapped ourselves in the first half by giving them extra possessions with our turnovers and second-chance opportunities on the boards," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Jon Mack said. "I thought we allowed them to be too comfortable on the offensive end in the opening 20 minutes."

"We gave ourselves a chance in the second half by reducing our turnovers and making Eastern more uncomfortable with our pressure defense," Mack said. "I thought offensively we attacked the paint more with the post and the drive."

"I'm proud of our guys," Mack said. "We played a really good team and had a chance to win at the end. We will learn and grow from this, but I loved our resilience in the second half."

Information to Know: Lancaster Bible is now 3-11 overall against Eastern…The Eagles defeated the Chargers, 89-80 last season in Lancaster…Lancaster Bible's 42.1 shooting percentage was a season-high, as were the 21 turnovers…Lancaster Bible's trend of playing close games continued, as the Chargers now have a two-point win, three-point loss, and one-point loss this season…Stoltzfus' double-double was his third straight to begin the season.

Up Next: The Chargers are off until after Thanksgiving and will open the home portion of their schedule on Wednesday, November 30th when they host Neumann at 7 p.m.