The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team, fresh off a 13-day break, opened the home portion of its 2022-23 schedule with a tough 63-59 victory over Neumann on Wednesday night at the Horst Athletic Center. The victory sends the Chargers to 2-2 this season, while the Knights fall to 5-3.
 
How It Happened: Entering their fourth contest of the 2022-23 campaign, the Chargers had their work cut out for them against a very tough non-conference Neumann squad. Beginning the first half, both teams began by trading baskets and continued to do so until an Ethan Beachy jumper and a Matt Ilodigwe three-pointer gave the Chargers a five-point lead just under seven minutes into the game. The two teams would continue to battle entertaining the home crowd at the Horst Athletic Center. Perhaps the loudest play of the night came on a fast break from the Chargers as Grant Sareyka had one of his six steals leading to junior Andrew Zentner hammering down an and-1 dunk, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
 
The Chargers took their biggest lead of the first half with just 2:09 left in the half following several key hustle plays that quickly turned into fast break points, including layups from Sareyka and Ilodigwe and capped off by a corner three-pointer from Sareyka. The Chargers headed into the locker room at halftime with a 36-30 lead over the Knights.
 
Entering the second half, the Chargers rushed to a 42-30 lead off an and-1 jumper and three-point field goal from Sareyka. Neumann did not back down either, returning the favor and reclaiming the lead a little over seven minutes in. The Chargers and Knights found themselves deadlocked at 58 with just 2:54 left in the game. Needing to create separation, the Chargers did just that as Sareyka made a jumper and hit two free throws to extend the lead to 62-59. After several key defensive stops, junior Seth Beers secured the win on a good free throw to push the lead to 63-59 and secure the Charger win.
 
From the Coach: "Very proud of our tough effort today!  We beat a very good, tough, and physical team tonight.  You don't beat opponents like that without playing with a high level of toughness and execution.
 
I thought the big difference was our ability to score 22 points off their turnovers.  We really wanted to push tempo and force them to play at a faster pace than what they are accustomed to playing. I also thought playing big helped us tremendously on both ends of the floor and our bench was tremendous tonight. 
 
This was a good early season win and we look forward to preparing for our next challenge on Saturday against a dangerous Penn College team." – Head Coach Jon Mack
 
By the Numbers: Junior Grant Sareyka led the way for the Chargers with 21 points, 5 assists, and 6 steals… Junior Andrew Zentner added 13 points and 8 rebounds… Senior Ethan Beachy finished with 11 points… the Chargers shot 40.7% (24-59) from the field and 27.3% (6-22) from three-point land… the Chargers also tallied 16 assists and 13 turnovers for the contest… Jalen Vaughns led the way for Neumann with 24 points and Tony James added 12 points.
 
Information to Know: LBC is now 4-4 all-time against Neumann… the Knights defeated the Chargers, 73-46 last season in Aston, Pa… Lancaster Bible was 11-3 at home last season… Sareyka has 40 points over his past two games… all four of Lancaster Bible's games have been decided by four points or less.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible opens United East Conference play on Saturday, December 3 as the Chargers host Penn College at 3 p.m.