LANCASTER, Pa. – The third time must have been the charm.  On their third straight trip to the title game, the Lancaster Bible College Chargers hoisted the 2015-16 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Men’s Basketball Championship trophy for the first time in program history after defeating the Morrisville State College Mustangs 97-71 on their home floor Sunday. 

The No. 15 nationally ranked Chargers will now receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament, where they will enter the big dance with a perfect 27-0 overall record. Find out who they will play in the opening round during the NCAA selection show, which can be viewed live here on Monday, Feb. 29 at 12:30 p.m. 

The Chargers tipped off the championship with five straight points to open play, but the Mustangs answered with seven straight of their own on four points from senior Ibrahima Toure (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and a 3-pointer from sophomore Trent Ward (Auburn, N.Y.) to take an early 7-5 lead.  The game would then be tied at 7-all, 10-all and 13-all in the following minutes before the Chargers went on a 14-4 run to create a 10-point lead at 27-17 with 11:52 left before the half.  

Six straight points from Morrisville cut it back down to four, but a layup by LBC senior CJ Dunston (Elkton, Md.) followed by a steal and a 3-pointer from junior Kurt Keltner (Denver, Colo.) quickly made the lead  nine again at 32-23 with 7:23 on the clock. The lead would extend to double digits on a breakaway dunk off a steal from Dunston at the 3:46 mark that gave LBC control of the rest of the half, which closed on a deep 3-pointer from LBC senior Jordan Mellinger (Manheim, Pa.) to make it 52-38 entering the break. 

It would then become the Bryce Williams (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) show in the second half.  The junior swished a 3-pointer to open the frame that would mark a sign of things to come, as he would proceed to hit three more from long range over the next four minutes to make it a 23-point advantage for LBC at 69-43 with 14 minutes left.  That would set the tone for the rest of the half, as they led by at least 19 the rest of the way en route to their first-ever NEAC title.     

Williams finished with four 3-pointers and 19 points in the half to conclude the contest with a game-high 30 points while tying his season-high with seven treys on the day.  He also added five assists and four boards while shooting 10-of-15 overall from the field, which earned him NEAC Tournament MVP honors after also registering 16 points and a game-most four steals while going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the last two minutes of Saturday’s semifinal round victory. 

As a team, the Chargers shot 55 percent from the field and hit 12 3-pointers on the day, while defensively holding Morrisville to 39 percent shooting from the floor. 

Dunston, the NEAC Player of the Year, finished with 18 points, a team-high nine rebounds, four assists and four steals.  Keltner tallied 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, while senior Dondre Perry (Allentown, Pa.) added 14 points and a team-high eight assists.  Sophomore Herbie Brown (Wilmington, Del.) posted 10 points, six rebounds and four steals in 21 minutes off the bench for LBC. 

Toure had an excellent game for Morrisville, garnering the contest’s only double-double with 29 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.  Senior Joe Hulbert (Duanesburg, N.Y.) also finished with 17 points and three assists for the Mustangs, who close the season 19-8 overall.   

A full box score from the championship game can be found here. 

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference has fourteen NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Bryn Athyn College, Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Pennsylvania State University - Abington, Pennsylvania State University - Berks, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Morrisville State College, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Cedar Crest College (W Swimming), D’Youville College (M Volleyball), Hilbert College (M Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Penn State Altoona (M Volleyball) and Rutgers University - Camden (M Golf).  The North Eastern Athletic Conference has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sports of field hockey and men’s and women’s tennis.