The Lancaster Bible College Men's Basketball team started 2024 strong with a convincing 86-69 win over Haverford College in the Horst Athletic Center on Wednesday night. The Chargers improve to 6-8 overall and 1-1 in the United East, while the Fords drop to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in the Centennial Conference.
 
How it Happened:
Grant Sareyka got a steal and made a fast-break layup to start the scoring, then Connor Storr put back an offensive rebound to put the Chargers up 4-2 early. Leading by one at 15-14 later in the half, Sareyka and Seth Beers powered an eight-point run to put LBC up nine. Graduate student Ty Erisman drained a corner three to make it a double-digit lead, then Beers took over with the next 14 in a row for the Chargers with four 3-pointers in a row to help LBC take a 48-34 lead into halftime.
 
The Fords came out of halftime strong, but Sareyka kept them at bay with six straight points to maintain the lead. Haverford continued to push the Chargers, forcing lots of early fouls and cutting the lead to as little as eight with 11 minutes to play. Erisman made another three to spark an 11-3 run over the next five minutes, with Luke Rumbaugh and Storr making contested layups along the way. The Chargers maintained the double-digit lead and closed out a 17-point win to open 2024 strong.
 
By the Numbers:
- The Chargers dominated in points off turnovers with 30, forcing 20 Ford turnovers
- Lancaster Bible shot 34-70 (48.6%) from the field and 11-29 (37.9%) from 3-point range, while the Fords shot 21-56 (37.5%) overall and 4-16 (25%) from deep
- Grant Sareyka led all scorers with 22 points, adding three rebounds and two steals
- Seth Beers tied his career-high with 19 points, including 17 in the first half and a game-high five assists
- Connor Storr and Luke Rumbaugh both reached double-digits with 13 and 12 points respectively
- The Fords were led by Nick Klaiber with 16 points, five rebounds, and 2-3 from 3-point range
 
Information to Know:
This was the Chargers' first matchup with Haverford, the last of seven first-time matchups for this season with the Chargers going 4-3 in those games. Lancaster Bible has won back-to-back games for the first time this season and is now 2-5 at the Horst Athletic Center. Senior Grant Sareyka vaulted up the all-time scoring list tonight, passing Kevin Keltner ('11), Billy Harrison ('09), Herbie Brown ('18), and Scott Long ('05) to move into 11^th in program history with 1,340 points. Fellow senior Seth Beers moved into sole possession of 13^th-place all-time with 108 career steals, breaking a tie with Brian Webb.
 
Up Next:
The Chargers return to United East play on Saturday, January 6 as they host a conference title rematch with Penn St. Abington at 1:00 p.m.