The Lancaster Bible men's basketball team raced to a 104-75 victory over Penn St. Berks on Saturday afternoon in their first home game and United East Conference contest of the 2023 year. The win helps the Chargers improve to 5-6 overall this season and 2-0 in conference action, while the Lions fall to 3-7 overall and 1-2 in the United East.
 
How It Happened: The Chargers started on the first half on a furious 18-4 run behind the likes of graduate senior Jordan Shewbridge, who scored eight points in a mere three minutes, and contributions from Andrew Zentner, Grant Sareyka, and Ethan Beachy. A steal and finish from junior Isaiah Mitchell put the Chargers up by 15 eight minutes into the game. The Lions though would not go away as they continued to chip at the lead basket by basket. With 7:46 remaining in the half, a Lion bucket brought the Charger lead to single-digits and it stayed until the end of the half making, the game interesting. The Chargers led at half by 5 over the Lions with a score of 49-44.

Opening the second half of play, it was Shewbridge again who had 10 of his 26 points in the first six minutes of play. Stoltzfus, Beachy, Zentner, and Sareyka also lended a hand, bringing the Charger lead up to as much as 21 points with 10 minutes left to play. Great ball movement and a dominant post presence from Stoltzfus (scored all 15 of his points in the second half) and Zentner continued to grow the lead, keeping the score out of the Lions' reach. A free throw from transfer Malachi McDowell with 2:18 left helped the Chargers eclipse the 100-point mark and reach their largest lead of the game (30 points). The Chargers walked away with a well-earned 104-75 victory to open the second half of the season.
 
From the Coach: "I thought we had a great start at the beginning of the first half and the entire second half. Mid-way in the first half I thought we got weary of doing the right things and reverted to some bad habits that generated offense for Berks. Berks is a much improved team with a great balance attack of drivers and shooters. I thought they were the aggressors to close out the half.  
 
In the second half, I thought we defended well and converted at a high clip off defensive stops. We did a great job creating extra possessions on the glass and from our defense which led to our positive shooting percentages today." – Head Coach Jon Mack
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 49 percent (34-69) from the floor, including 80 percent from the charity stripe (29-36)… the Lions shot 43 percent (29-67) from the field and 39 percent from the three-point land (11-28)… the Chargers dominated the glass 43-32 and the Chargers grabbed 15 offensive rebounds… the Chargers scored 52 total points in the paint and 28 fast break points… Shewbridge led all scorers with 26 points and was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line… three other Chargers scored in double figures with Stoltzfus tallying 15 points, Sareyka scoring 14 points, and Zentner having 12 points… Gardner had 12 points and Collins, Ballard each had 11 for Berks.
 
Information to Know: This was the first time LBC has eclipsed the 100-point mark since February 9^th, 2022 in a win at Penn St. Berks… Saturday marks the first time the Chargers have scored over 100 points at home since December 9^th, 2016 when the Chargers defeated Penn St. Berks 103-84… it was also the second straight game Shewbridge has scored 25 points and the third time this season.
 
Up Next: The Chargers return to the road Wednesday, January 11^th as they travel to Penn St. Abington for another United East competition set to tipoff at 7:00 p.m.