For the third straight season, the Lancaster Bible men's basketball team will play for the North Eastern Athletic Conference Championship as the Chargers defeated SUNY Polytechnic, 75-57 in the NEAC Semifinals on Saturday at Horst Athletic Center. Lancaster Bible is now 26-0 this season and is one victory from their first berth in the NCAA Division III National Tournament. SUNY Polytechnic ends its season with a record of 14-13.

How it Happened: Unlike the regular season meeting between the two teams where SUNY Polytechnic jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first four minutes, it was the Chargers who took control early and led 11-5 with 15:23 remaining in the first half after a layup fromHerbie Brown. SUNY Polytechnic hung around and cut its deficit to one at 17-16 after a jumper from Tyler Taverne with 9:34 remaining.

SUNY Polytechnic took its first lead of the game, 22-20, thanks to a layup from Peyton Griffiths with 7:30 to go in the half. After leading by as many as four two different times late in the half, the Wildcats eventually took a 30-28 advantage into the locker room. It marked just the third time all season Lancaster Bible has trailed at halftime.

Lancaster Bible opened the second half on a 6-1 run as Bryce Williams converted a fastbreak layup to give the Chargers a 34-31 lead 2:58 into the second half. Using good defensive pressure and getting back to its run-and-gun pace, the Chargers took an eight-point lead at 47-39 thanks to a thunderous dunk from Dondre Perry with 12:14 to play. Perry took the ball from the wing and jumped from several feet from the basket and slammed it home to give Lancaster Bible its biggest lead of the game to that point.

The Chargers pushed their lead to 16 points at 60-44 thanks to a layup from Perry with seven minutes to play and though the Wildcats trimmed it to 13 a few minutes later, Lancaster Bible shut the door and defeated SUNY Polytechnic for the second time this season.

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot just 12-of-29 (41.4 percent) in the first half, but rebounded to shoot 17-of-29 (58.6 percent) from the floor in the second half and finished the game at 29-of-58 (50 percent)...Senior CJ Dunston led the Chargers with 20 points and nine rebounds, while he also added three assists and three steals...Perry finished with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting and Williams had 16 points and four steals...Junior Kurt Keltner added seven points and six assists...Lancaster Bible turned the ball over just 11 times and forced 18 SUNY Polytechnic turnovers...The Wildcats held a 38-28 rebounding advantage, but Lancaster Bible scored 23 points off of SUNY Polytechnic's 18 turnovers...Quayshaun Mitchell had a team-high 19 points for the Wildcats.

The Coach Says: "We started slow, but turned it around early in the second half and played pretty well," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Zach Filzen said. "We pressured them with a few new looks and got our rhythm back. Poly slowed the pace and got us out of our normal routine for a lot of the first half, but we got back into our comfort zone and played at our pace for much of the second half."

On Sunday's opponent, Morrisville State..."We have to be ready to execute against their zone," Filzen said. "We need to shoot better and have to defend well. Morrisville has good shooters from distance and [Ibrahima] Toure does everything well for them."

Extra! Extra!: Lancaster Bible remains just one of two undefeated teams in NCAA Men's Basketball...Benedictine (Ill.) is also 26-0 and will be hosting their conference final on Sunday as well...Lancaster Bible is now 5-2 all-time against SUNY Polytechnic...The Chargers defeated Morrisville State, 97-66 on Jan. 16 in Morrisville, N.Y...Morrisville State defeated Gallaudet in Saturday's second semifinal, 74-63...Morrisville State defeated Lancaster Bible, 73-65 in the 2014 NEAC Final.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible hosts its third consecutive NEAC Final as the Chargers take on Morrisville State on Sunday at 12:30 p.m...The game can be seen live at the following link: LIVE VIDEO