The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team's old nemesis was at it again on Tuesday night, as the Chargers lost to Penn St. Harrisburg, 68-65 in Middletown, Pa. The loss drops the Chargers to 7-7 overall this season and 4-1 in United East Conference play, while the Lions improve to 6-8 overall and 3-2 in conference action. 

How it Happened: Neither team could do much offensively in the early-going, as the Lions led just 7-2 after five minutes of play. Senior Ethan Beachy finally broke a five-minute scoreless stretch for the Chargers at the 14:47 mark with a jumper to cut the Chargers' deficit to three. Penn St. Harrisburg responded with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes and led 15-4 with just over 12:30 remaining in the half. 

Lancaster Bible continued to chase Penn St. Harrisburg throughout the middle part of the opening half, and trailed, 19-12 after a bucket from graduate student Jordan Shewbridge with 9:48 to play. The Lions eventually stretched their lead to 14 points on three different occasions, but the Chargers battled back late in the half and trailed just 36-26 at the break after a late triple from Beachy.

The teams traded 3-pointers early in the second half, as junior Grant Sareyka knocked down a 3-pointer for the Chargers. Lancaster Bible continued to trim its deficit, and trailed just 41-36 after another bucket from Beachy with 14:20 remaining. Lancaster Bible pulled to within three, 45-42, three minutes later, as Sareyka and Shewbridge hit back-to-back 3-pointers. A layup from Sareyka cut the deficit to 45-44, but Penn St. Harrisburg scored the next five points and led, 50-44 with 8:05 remaining. 

The Lions eventually built the lead back to nine, but two more 3-pointers from Sareyka pulled Lancaster Bible back to within five, 57-52 with 4:35 remaining. Junior Seth Beers scored five straight points for the Chargers a minute later to make it a four-point game, and junior Andrew Zentner followed with a bucket to make it a two-point game, 61-59, with 2:13 left on the clock. 

The teams traded free throws, but Lancaster Bible finally tied the game, 63-63, with 1:05 to play thanks to a layup from Sareyka. Penn St. Harrisburg scored on its next possession, but Lancaster Bible could not and was forced to extend the game with fouls. The Chargers got their chance to tie in the final seconds, but Sareyka's try at the buzzer wouldn't go. 

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 40.6 percent (26-of-64) from the field, including 27.6 percent (8-of-29) from 3-point range...The Chargers were just 5-of-10 from the free throw line...Penn St. Harrisburg shot 43.6 percent (24-of-55) from the floor, including 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from beyond the arc...The Lions were 14-of-19 from the free throw line...Sareyka led all scorers with 21 points and also added four steals...Shewbridge added 13 points, while Seth Beers had eight points, four rebounds, and four assists...Andrew Zentner also scored in double figures with 10 points and added six boards...Zegary Scott III had a team-high 15 points for the Lions.

Information to Know: Lancaster Bible is now 2-33 all-time against Penn St. Harrisburg...Each team won on its home floor in the regular season last year, but Penn St. Harrisburg had the last laugh in the United East Final when the Lions defeated the Chargers, 85-52...Shewbridge is just 43 points from becoming the program's all-time leading scorer...Sam Rempel ('01) is the current record holder at 1,979...Lancaster Bible's all-time leading scorer for either gender is Aubrey (Folger) Bird ('16) who amassed 2,141 points in her illustrious career...Lancaster Bible's 10 free throw attempts were a season-low...Lancaster Bible's 65 points snap a streak of five straight games scoring 80+ points.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible returns to the floor this Friday and Saturday when the Chargers host SUNY Morrisville and Wells...The Chargers and Mustangs are slated to tip-off on Friday at 7 p.m.