The Lancaster Bible men's basketball team won again on Saturday as the Chargers led wire-to-wire and defeated Penn St. Berks, 107-90 at Horst Athletic Center. The Chargers improve to 19-0 overall and 12-0 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play. The win helps the Chargers maintain their three-game lead in the NEAC South Division over Gallaudet which also won on Saturday.

How it Happened: The Chargers jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead over the first 1:31 of the contest as Dondre Perry, Bryce Williams and Kurt Keltner connected on early shots. Penn St. Berks battled back and kept the game close, eventually cutting its deficit to one at 12-11 thanks to a layup from Matt Thompson with 13:45 to play in the half. The Chargers, as they have done all season, responded with a 10-0 run of their own over the next 3:19 and took an 11-point at 22-11. The run was capped by a 3-pointer from Herbie Brown, followed by a layup in transition by CJ Dunston.

The teams exchanged buckets over the next few minutes and a Baba Waples 3-pointer with 6:30 to play in the half cut the Nittany Lions' deficit to 11 at 34-23. Lancaster Bible used another quick scoring run, this one an 8-0 run in just 51 seconds to break the game open as the Chargers led 42-23 with 5:39 to play in the first half. Williams hit two quick 3-pointers during the run, which was capped by Brown after he stole the inbounds pass following Williams' second 3-pointer and converted a layup to make it 42-23.

The Chargers eventually took a 54-42 lead into halftime after Penn St. Berks cut into Lancaster Bible's lead late in the half.

Lancaster Bible restored its 19-point lead just 2:45 into the half as Keltner hit another one of his six 3-pointers on the day to give the Chargers a 63-44 advantage. The teams once again exchanged baskets for the better part of 10 minutes before the Chargers began to expand their lead midway through the half. Leading 88-67 with 8:14 to play, Lancaster Bible used a 10-1 run to open up a 30-point lead at 98-68 with 6:13 remaining. 

Penn St. Berks did not quit though and eventually trimmed its deficit to 13 at 101-88 with 2:14 to play. That would be as close as the Nittany Lions would get however as the Chargers used three straight layups from Dunston down the stretch to seal the win.

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 41-of-80 (51.3 percent) from the floor and scored over 50 points in each half...The Chargers have now scored 50 or more points in a half 18 times this season...Keltner led the Chargers with 28 points, a career-high...Keltner was 11-of-15 from the floor, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range...Dunston finished with 22 points on 10-15 shooting...Dunston grabbed a game-high 16 boards as well and added six assists and five blocks...Williams also finished with 22 points and chipped in with eight assists...Brown was the final player in double figures with 13 points...Senior Jon Bird had nine points and eight rebounds...Dameon Nixon and Christian Burgraff each had 20 points to pace the Nittany Lions.

The Coach Says: "The team is getting deeper and more guys are playing valuable minutes," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Zach Filzen said. "With the pace we play, it is important to get guys involved and give rest when we can."

On the team's recent play..."We've been in a bit of a funk lately and I thought today was the first stride out of that," Filzen said. "We made the extra pass and the offense flowed well today. Defensively, I thought we played pretty well and forced them into tough shots. We turned the ball over a bit too much, but overall I thought today was a good day."

On Keltner's play..."We knew he was due for a big game soon," Filzen said. "He hasn't shot the ball too well lately, but with a good shooter like he is, it is just a matter of time before they go off. He's an unbelievable shooter and we see this all of the time in practice. He drains shots like this in practice all of the time, so it is nice to see it translate to a game."

On next week's big games..."Every team's goal is to play meaningful games towards the end of the season and I think the guys are excited about the stretch coming up," Filzen said. "We have a chance to clinch some things coming up and the guys are ready for that challenge. We have risen to every challenge all season long, so I don't expect that to change."

Extra! Extra!: Lancaster Bible is now 10-5 all-time against Penn St. Berks...The Chargers scored over 100 points in both games against Penn St. Berks this season...Lancaster Bible is 9-0 at home this season and 10-0 away from Horst Athletic Center...The Chargers outrebounded the Nittany Lions, 52-38.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible travels to Bryn Athyn, Pa. on Wednesday to face Bryn Athyn at 6 p.m.