The Lancaster Bible College men's basketball defeated Penn St. Abington, 83-68 in the North Eastern Athletic Conference Quarterfinals on Tuesday, advancing to the NEAC Semifinals for the fifth straight season. The victory propels the Chargers to 21-5 this season, and Lancaster Bible will host the NEAC Final Four this weekend for the fourth time in five seasons. Penn St. Abington ends its season at 10-14.

How it Happened: Lancaster Bible opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers from senior Herbie Brown and junior Christo Majok, and took a 14-7 lead moments later on a layup from Majok in transition. Penn St. Abington hung around and cut the deficit to five, 18-13, with 10:52 to play in the opening half after a layup from Pernell Ghee.

A 7-1 run by Lancaster Bible followed by bucket by Ghee, capped by a dunk from junior Quentin Davis off a feed from Majok. The Chargers maintained the double-digit lead for much of the opening half, and stretched the advantage to 40-23 after a 3-pointer from senior Bill Livezey with 2:29 left in the half. Penn St. Abington closed the half on a 9-2 run however, as Jay Fitzgerald hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining to cut the Nittany Lions' deficit to 42-32 at the break.

A layup from Davis, followed by a one-handed alley-oop from Archer to Majok, gave the Chargers a 46-34 lead 1:24 into the second half, and Archer knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 49-34 just 16 seconds later. Davis capped the 9-0 run to begin the half just over a minute later, and Lancaster Bible was back in front by 17.

Lancaster Bible opened up a 20-point lead on a 3-pointer from junior Alex Whitt with 12:29 to play and then took its biggest lead of the game, 69-46, on a jumper from Herbie Brown with 10:31 remaining.

Penn St. Abington made a late run with under five minutes to play and trimmed the Chargers' advantage to 11, 79-68, but would not get any closer, as layups from Herbie Brown and Livezey sealed the deal with under 2:30 to play.

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 29-of-59 (49.2 percent) from the field, including 8-of-25 from 3-point range...The Chargers were also 17-of-22 from the free throw line...Penn St. Abington shot 21-of-64 (32.8 percent) from the floor, and just 5-of-19 from beyond the arc...The Nittany Lions were 21-of-29 from the free throw line...Herbie Brown led all scorers with 20 points, and added nine rebounds and four steals...Davis finished with 14 points and seven boards, while sophomore Luke Beers had 13 points and three assists...Majok added 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals...Archer had eight points and four assists, and Livzey added seven points, four rebounds and four steals...Whitt chipped in with six points and eight boards...Quinn DeNova had a team-high 19 points for the Nittany Lions.

The Coach Says: "The guys were excited to play Abington, and were locked in tonight," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Zach Filzen said. "I thought we defended pretty well in the half-court, and they are a tough team with a lot of talented players. We gave up too many offensive boards, and struggled at times offensively, but the guys fought through and we were able to get some good chances in transition."

On NEAC Semifinal Opponent Wilson: "It's hard to beat a team three times in one season, and Wilson is playing some of the best basketball in the NEAC, and has been for over a month," Filzen said. "We will need to be ready for a tough game, and we need to have good practices the rest of the week. The guys are focused though, and have been working really hard these past few weeks - in practice, in film sessions, and in games."

Information Hodge Podge: Lancaster Bible is now 11-6 all-time against Penn St. Abington...The Chargers are 11-2 at home this season, and now 9-0 at home this year against NEAC opponents...The 20 points were the eighth time this season, and third straight game, Herbie Brown has scored 20 or more points in a game...The 77.3 free throw shooting percentage was the second-highest of the season for Lancaster Bible, just shy of the 77.8 mark posted at Bryn Athyn on Jan. 20.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible will host Wilson in the NEAC Semifinals on Saturday at 2 p.m...The Chargers defeated the Phoenix twice this season, winning the first matchup in Lancaster, 97-57 on Nov. 28, and then defeating the Phoenix, 76-75 in Chambersburg on Jan. 24...Morrisville State, the top seed from the NEAC North Division will battle SUNY Poly in the other semifinal, with tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m...Check www.lbcchargers.com later this week for previews and announcements about the NEAC Final Four.