The Lancaster Bible College Men's Basketball team got their first win in the Horst Athletic Center this season, racing to a 78-64 victory over Eastern Mennonite on Saturday afternoon. The Chargers improve to 3-5 on the year and 1-1 in the United East, while the Royals fall to 2-8 overall and 0-4 in the ODAC.
 
How it Happened:
Ty Erisman got the scoring started 90 seconds in on an assist from Daniel King, then senior Seth Beers hit a pair of jumpers to make the score 6-3 early. Three-pointers from Luke Rumbaugh and Connor Storr extended the lead to 14-5, forcing a Royals timeout. The Chargers continued to pour on the offense with a three-pointer and an and-one layup from King, also playing strong defense limiting Eastern Mennonite to 13 first half points. LBC closed on a 9-0 run to take a 24-point lead into halftime at 37-13.
 
The Chargers started the second half on a tear, capitalizing on turnovers for six points in the first minute, including two quick scores from senior Grant Sareyka. A jumper from Sareyka gave LBC their largest lead of the game at 28, but the Royals did not go away, slowly chipping away at the lead for the rest of the game. EMU went on a 10-point scoring run to cut the deficit to just 11 with six and a half minutes to play, but Sareyka ended the run with a layup. Some good free throw shooting down the stretch helped the Chargers seal a 78-64 victory.
 
By the Numbers:
- The Chargers won the rebounding battle 41-31 and had 23 points off turnovers to the Royals' 16
- The Chargers shot 13-16 (81.3%) from the free throw line, while the Royals shot 14-20 (70%)
- Grant Sareyka led all players with 19 points, including 21 in the first half
- Maureon Tisdale-Couch added 11 points and a team-high three steals
- Graduate student Ty Erisman reached double-figures with 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists
- The Royals were led by Nick Ondrus, posting a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds
 
From the Coach:
"I thought the guys came out and played a great first half defensively. This continued into the second half, but our defense got a little soft towards the middle and we turned the ball over too much. Our lack of offensive efficiency put extreme pressure on our defense during that stretch. Good game overall, but plenty of room to improve as we work through our challenging schedule and have a few more home games to close the semester." ~ Head Coach Jon Mack
 
Information to Know:
This was the seventh all-time matchup between the Chargers and Royals, with the Chargers getting their second win over EMU. With 19 points tonight, senior Grant Sareyka moved into 18^th all-time in scoring for Men's Basketball with 1,219 career points, passing Matt Lynsky. Sareyka also made history with two steals tonight, passing current coach and former teammate Jordan Shewbridge for 5^th place on the list with 168 career steals. Fellow senior Seth Beers recorded his 300^th career assist tonight, becoming just the fifth player in program history to reach that mark. Isaiah Mitchell reached a personal milestone as he scored his 100^th career point on a free throw in the final minute.
 
Up Next:
The Chargers stay in Lancaster as they host Elizabethtown College on Thursday, December 14 at 6:00 p.m.