The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball team's magical 2022-23 season came to an end on Saturday night in Alliance, Ohio, as the Chargers lost to third-ranked Mount Union, 90-66 in the NCAA Division III Second Round. Lancaster Bible finishes the year with an overall record of 21-8, while the Purple Raiders advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament Third Round with a record of 27-2.

How it Happened: Lancaster Bible jumped out to an early 6-0 lead thanks to four straight points from Jordan Shewbridge and a bucket in transition from Grant Sareyka. After missing chances to extend the early advantage, the host Purple Raiders showed why they came into the tournament ranked third in the country and used a 13-0 run to take a 13-6 advantage six minutes into the contest.

Lancaster Bible roared right back however, as Malachi McDowell sandwiched two 3-pointers around a great putback from Adam Stoltzfus, and the Chargers led, 14-13, with just under 11 minutes to play in the opening half. Mount Union's Jeff Mansfield completed a three-point play out of the media timeout midway through the half, as he had 10 early points for the Purple Raiders, but Sareyka answered with a layup off a nice feed from Seth Beers.

After Mount Union took a brief lead, Andrew Zentner took a great feed from Shewbridge and slammed it in from the right-hand side to tie the game at 18-18. The Purple Raiders scored the next five points of the contest, but a floater in the lane by Shewbridge trimmed Lancaster Bible's deficit to 23-20 with just under five minutes to play in the half. 

Mount Union slowly began to pull away from the Chargers, as Christian Parker knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:21 to play to make it 30-22 in favor of the home team. Things went from bad to worse for the Chargers after the media timeout, as Mount Union used a 10-2 run to open a 40-24 lead with 1:40 remaining. Shewbridge did his best to keep the Chargers in the game, as he hit a deep 3-pointer with under a minute to play in the half, and then converted two free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining to send Chargers to halftime trailing, 44-31.

Both teams came out firing early in the second half, as the teams went bucket-for-bucket over the first five minutes of the half. A pair of triples from Stoltzfus and Shewbridge cut Lancaster Bible's deficit to 49-39 four minutes into the second frame, but like they did for most of the night, the Purple Raiders had an immediate answer, as Darrell Newsom drained a 3-pointer on the other end to extend Mount Union's lead back to 13.

Lancaster Bible closed the gap to 10 just minutes later and had an opportunity to cut the deficit to single digits, but the bucket wouldn't go and Mount Union made the Chargers pay. An 8-0 run by the Purple Raiders ensued, including back-to-back 3-pointers 12 seconds apart to extend the home team's advantage to 60-42 with just over 12 minutes to play.

The teams traded baskets over the next six minutes, as Shewbridge and Stoltzfus hit several buckets to try and keep the Chargers alive. Mount Union would have nothing of it however, as they dominated down low, and were just as good in transition. Mount Union continued to grow its lead late into the contest, as both teams took their starters out with just over two minutes remaining. 
 

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 35.7 percent (25-of-70) from the floor, including just 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from 3-point range…The Chargers shot 9-of-14 from the free throw line…Mount Union shot 47.2 percent (34-of-72) from the field, including 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from beyond the arc…The Purple Raiders were 11-of-15 from the free throw line…Mount Union held a 50-36 advantage in rebounds, and outscored the Chargers, 44-30 in the paint…Shewbridge finished with a game-high 29 points, and scored 49 points over the two NCAA Tournament games this weekend…Stoltzfus finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds, while McDowell and Zentner each had eight points…Christian Parker led Mount Union with 22 points, as five players scored in double figures.
 

Information to Know: This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools…Lancaster Bible's 21 wins are the sixth-most in program history, and the sixth time the team has won 20 or more games in a season…The 2022-23 season is the 10th straight year the men's basketball program has finished with a .500 record or better…Shewbridge finishes his illustrious career with 2,243 points…In 130 career games, Shewbridge made 748 buckets, including 369 3-pointers…He is the program's all-time leader in points, 3-point field goals, and games played…Four Lancaster Bible players averaged in double figures for the season, as Shewbridge, Sareyka, Zentner, and Stoltzfus were all above 10 points per contest.