New Life Christian came out of halftime with a 20-point third quarter en route to a 56-39 victory over the Cumberland Valley Christian Blazers Tuesday evening in a Mason Dixon Christian boys basketball game.

The Blazers (3-3, 0-1 MDCC) trailed only 28-22 entering halftime, but they were down 48-33 at the end of three quarters after New Life outscored them 20-11.

“I didn’t think we played all that great in the first half, but we went to the locker room only down six,” Blazers coach Austin Sanders said. “Our lack of execution on both ends of the floor in the third quarter hurt us again. Credit to New Life for making the necessary adjustments after the half when we could not. “

Reece Hunsberger (14 points) and Gabe Beckering (11) broke into double figures for the Blazers. Josh Rudy scored eight points and handed out three assists, Zack Mace had six rebounds and three points, and Nathan Minnier scored three points.

In a 60-45 loss at McConnellsburg Monday, the third quarter proved destructive to the Blazers as well. McConnellsburg outscored the Blazers 22-10 in the period to grab a 48-33 lead – ironically the same third-quarter-ending score as in the New Life game.

Rudy had 12 points and nine rebounds, Hunsberger and Beckering (four assists, six rebounds) 11 points each, Thomas Garvin nine points and Mace two.

“I thought we started the game with really good energy,” Sanders said. “We were moving the ball well on offense, which created lanes for us to score, and defensively, we were doing just enough to keep us in the game. We came out flat in the third, which really hurt us. A good team like McConnellsburg will make you pay for those type of mistakes, and we couldn’t recover.”