The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team won its third straight game on Wednesday, as the Chargers defeated St. Mary's (Md.), 77-45 in St. Mary's City, Md. The victory sends the Chargers to 10-7 overall and 7-1 in United East Conference play, while the Seahawks fall to 8-9 overall and 3-5 in conference action.
 
How It Happened: The Chargers started off with a 5-0 lead thanks to a three-point bucket and two free throws from the graduate student Jordan Shewbridge. The Seahawks battled back to bring the game within one, 10-9 but a Seth Beers layup at 11:26 pushed the Charger lead to 18-9. The Chargers continued to lock up defensively, putting several strings of stops together and converting on the other end. A three-point field goal from junior Jordan Praylow gave the Chargers a 17-point lead with just five minutes left in the first half. Back-to-back steals from the Chargers led to two fast break layups from Isaiah Mitchell and Adam Stoltzfus to close the half and run to their largest lead of the game, 37-17.
 
The Seahawks scored two layups to open the second half looking to get something going offensively, but they were met with layups from Grant Sareyka and Ty Erisman to keep the lead at 20 points. Beers and Erisman continued to lead the charge offensively, making several key hustle plays to compliment the Chargers' defensive pressure that created 23 turnovers and had 14 steals for the night. Freshman Luke Rumbaugh entered the game and was able to knockdown a corner three-pointer, increasing the lead to 27 points with just under 13 minutes left to play. The Chargers eclipsed the thirty-point mark after two layups from Sareyka and a strong layup from Andrew Zentner. Isaiah Mitchell hit four free throws down the stretch and freshman Jax Felder got in on the action with a layup of his own to secure another conference road win.
 
From the Coach: "I am proud of our defensive effort today for 40 minutes. I thought it was our most complete defensive game. SMCM is a great rebounding team and I thought we did a great job keeping them off the glass and holding them under 10 offensive rebounds. 
 
In addition, I was pleased with our ball security and keeping our turnovers under control. Our ability to not give SMCM extra possessions on the glass and with our turnovers allowed us to turn our defense into our primary offense tonight." – Head Coach Jon Mack
 
By the Numbers: The Chargers shot 40 percent (27-67) from the floor and 72 percent (18-25) from the charity stripe… the Seahawks were held to just 34 percent (18-53) from the field and 9 percent (1-11) from beyond the arc… the Chargers managed to grab 17 offensive rebounds and score 26 points off turnovers… junior Andrew Zentner led the way for the Chargers with 16 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks… Seth Beers had 13 points and seven rebounds… Grant Sareyka had 10 points, three assists, and three steals… Henry (SMCM) scored a game-high 18 points.
 
Information to Know: Lancaster Bible is now 5-2 all-time against St. Mary's (Md.)… The Chargers defeated the Seahawks twice last season, as Lancaster Bible won, 82-75, in St. Mary's City, Md., and then defeated the Seahawks, 84-58 five days later in Lancaster… Lancaster Bible is now 3-5 on the road this season.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible is back in action on Saturday, as the Chargers host Penn St. Harrisburg at 3 p.m.