The Lancaster Bible men's basketball team passed its toughest conference test yet on Saturday and in the process opened up a three-game lead in the North Eastern Athletic Conference South Division as the Chargers defeated Gallaudet, 91-73 at Horst Athletic Center. The Chargers remain undefeated and are now 17-0 overall and 10-0 in NEAC play. The Bison fall to 10-6 overall and 7-3 in conference action. 

How it Happened: Lancaster Bible jumped on Gallaudet early as juniors Bryce Williams and Kurt Keltner knocked down early 3-pointers to give the Chargers a 6-0 lead. After the Bison got on the board with a 3-pointer of their own, Lancaster Bible scored the next 10 points, the final six coming off two more 3-pointers from Williams, and took a 16-3 lead just 4:46 into the game. Gallaudet's Trey Gordon broke the Chargers' scoring run, but Lancaster Bible went off again and scored the next seven points to open up an 18-point lead at 23-5 with 12:35 remaining in the opening half.

Gallaudet began to chip away at its deficit over the next six minutes and eventually cut the Chargers' lead to 33-25 after a jumper from Andy Cruz with 6:37 to play in the first half. As the Chargers went a bit cold from the floor, the Bison kept up the attack and made it a five-point game at 35-30 after a 3-pointer from Raymond Nelson with 4:46 to play. 

That's as close as Gallaudet would get however as Williams came to the rescue once more for Lancaster Bible. His hot shooting continued for much of the opening 20 minutes and he drained back-to-back 3-pointers, his fourth and fifth of the half, to restore Lancaster Bible's 11-point lead at 41-30. A 3-pointer and dunk on back-to-back possessions from CJ Dunston helped the Chargers to a 14-point lead just prior to halftime and Lancaster Bible eventually went into the locker room with a 53-40 advantage.

The teams traded baskets for much of the first 10 minutes of the second half, though Gallaudet once again closed its deficit to under 10 points, the final time coming with 12:30 remaining at 64-56. Lancaster Bible's next two buckets were some of the most important of the game as sophomore Herbie Brown connected on two 3-pointers to give the Chargers a 70-56 advantage with 10:52 to play. Layups from Dunston and Williams completed the 10-0 run for Lancaster Bible and gave the Chargers a 74-56 lead with 9:29 left.

Lancaster Bible opened up a brief 20-point lead thanks to Williams' sixth and final 3-pointer of the game which gave the home team an 88-67 lead with 3:32 to play. Lancaster Bible would eventually win by 18 points, marking the 16th time in 17 games this season the Chargers have won by double digits.

By the Numbers: Williams tied a season-high with 33 points...He also had 33 points on Dec. 2 at Penn St. Berks...Williams finished 12-of-23 from the floor, including 6-of-12 from beyond the arc...Dunston had 16 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season...Brown chipped in with 13 points and three assists...Senior Dondre Perry also finished in double figures with 12 points...Kurt Keltner added seven points and eight rebounds...Lancaster Bible shot 33-of-74 (44.6 percent) from the floor...The Chargers held a 45-39 advantage on the boards and turned the ball over just 12 times...Shawn Harrington led the Bison with 18 points.

The Coach Says: "This was a good hard-fought win," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Zach Filzen said. "It's nice for us to beat a team that is playing really good basketball."

About the game..."We got off to a good start, withstood their run and had some really good moments at the end of the first half and in the second half," Filzen said. "We got some good shots against their zone and moved the ball well most of the game. Bryce played very well today, as did a lot of the guys, and we did well stretching their zone. 

Things to improve going forward..."We can still execute better against the zone and we need to figure out how to guard a guy in the post who is as big as Gallaudet's [Joshua] McGriff," Filzen said. "We need to attack the basket a little better against the zone, but we did well crashing the boards today, so I'm happy with that."

Extra! Extra!: Lancaster Bible is now 5-6 all-time against Gallaudet and has won the last two meetings...The Chargers scored 53 points in the first half, the 16th time this year they have scored 50+ points in a half...Williams' 20.1 points per game lead the NEAC...Lancaster Bible remains one of four unbeaten teams left in NCAA Division III...Gallaudet's Trey Gordon scored his 1,000th point during the game and became the 23rd person in Gallaudet history to score 1,000 points.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible faces Penn St. Abington on Tuesday in Abington, Pa. at 6 p.m.