The Lancaster Bible men's basketball team celebrated Senior Day with a win as the Chargers defeated SUNY Cobleskill, 95-71 on Saturday at Horst Athletic Center. The Chargers are now 22-0 this season and 15-0 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play. Junior Bryce Williamsstole the show on Senior Day as he had a game-high 31 points with the last three points giving him 1,000 for his career. Williams is the 23rd player in program history to score 1,000 points and the second this season as seniorDondre Perry eclipsed the mark in January.

How it Happened: For the second consecutive game, the Chargers got off to a slow start as SUNY Cobleskill came out firing and grabbed a 9-3 lead 3:42 into the contest. As was the case on Friday night though, Lancaster Bible regained its footing and hit five 3-pointers over the next four minutes to take an 18-14 lead with 12:51 remaining in the first half. Williams hit three of the 3-pointers, while Jordan Mellinger andKurt Keltner reeled off the others as for the Chargers.

SUNY Cobleskill hung tough and regained a one-point lead at 23-22 on a 3-pointer from Quincey Miller with 10:24 to play in the first half. The teams traded buckets for the next few minutes as the Fighting Tigers led, 31-28 with 7:25 remaining, but it would be their final lead of the game as CJ Dunston converted back-to-back layups and gave the Chargers a 32-31 lead with 5:54 to play. The Chargers would lead by as many as 10 late in the first half before the Fighting Tigers cut it to eight on a layup from Codi Gorman with 15 seconds left in the half.

The Chargers maintained a double-digit lead for all of the second half, but the Fighting Tigers wouldn't go away quietly as Kemar Hemmings' layup with 12:59 left in the game cut Lancaster Bible's lead to 12 at 61-49. Lancaster Bible put any thought of a comeback to rest quickly as the Chargers used a 9-0 run over the next 2:06 to put the game away. Four different players scored during the run as Mellinger got things started with a 3-pointer and Williams, Herbie Brown and Keltner followed with baskets of their own as Lancaster Bible grabbed a 70-49 lead.

Leading, 75-58 with 7:19 to play, Lancaster Bible pulled away for good as the Chargers went on an 18-3 run over 4:16 and led 93-61 with 3:03 left in the game. During the run, Williams, needing five points for 1,000, stole the ball in SUNY Cobleskill's defensive end and converted a layup for points 996 and 997 and after a SUNY Cobleskill miss on the other end, Bill Livezey found Williams alone in the corner. Williams took the ball, took a look at the bucket and drained points 998, 999 and 1,000 as Red Sea Student Section erupted behind him.



By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 33-of-66 (50 percent) from the floor as the Chargers were 15-of-30 in the first half and 18-of-36 in the second half...Williams led all scorers with 31 points as he was 11-of-18 from the floor, including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc...Dunston had 18 points and 16 boards and also added four assists...Mellinger finished with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting as he was 4-of-8 from 3-point range...Brown added eight points, five rebounds and five assists...Keltner chipped in with seven points, 13 rebounds and five assists...Lancaster Bible held a 52-21 advantage on the boards, including a 15-3 edge on the offensive glass...Malik Chambers led the Fighting Tigers with 16 points.

The Coach Says: "I think it's hard to respond after a big game like last night's was and we started slow, but we got going after a bit and got into the swing of things," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Zach Filzen said. 

On Williams getting to 1,000 points..."I'm happy for Bryce and glad he was able to get to the mark with his family in the stands," Filzen said. "He's a heck of a player and been very consistent all season long. He's a great shooter and his ability to attack the basket or shoot from outside opens things up for others and makes us very dangerous."

On the seniors..."The seniors have been critical to the growth of this program," Filzen said. "They are instrumental to our team's success and each of them has an important role on the team. They are leaders and are very important on our team."

Extra! Extra!: Lancaster Bible is now 6-1 all-time against SUNY Cobleskill...Lancaster Bible had 11 3-pointers on Saturday and now has 218 this season, which sets a new program record...The previous record of 209 was set the 2013-14 team...Williams needs just six more 3-pointers to break the school-record for 3-pointers in a season...Dunston has 1,424 points in his career which is the sixth-most in program history.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible hosts Penn College on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m...The game is Lancaster Bible's final home regular season contest.