ANDERSON, S.C. – The Lander Bearcats have advanced to the NCAA Division II National Tournament's Sweet Sixteen for the second time in three years, beating Columbus State 74-66 Sunday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center on the campus of Anderson University.
Greyson Pritzl paced Lander with 25 points and 13 rebounds.
It was the 12th consecutive victory for the Bearcats (27-5), who will face Lenoir-Rhyne Tuesday night at 7 for the Southeast Region championship also at Abney Athletic Center.
Tuesday's night's winner advances to the Elite Eight to begin March 25 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on the campus of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
Lander fell one victory shy of the Elite Eight in 2023-24. LU's only trip to the Elite Eight was in 1998-99.
Pritzl made five 3-pointers, 10 of 13 free throws, and grabbed 12 defensive rebounds to pace the second-seeded Bearcats.
Jacob Daniels added 17 points for Lander while leading the team with five assists and also grabbing six boards.
Dylan Canoville and
Jake Tringone added nine points apiece for the Bearcats.
Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year Marlon Smith led sixth seeded Columbus State (23-9) with 16 points but was held without a field goal in the first half.
"Another gritty win by our team," Lander head coach
Omar Wattad said. "No disrespect to them (Columbus State). But I think the score at the end of the game was a little closer than really how the game played out. I thought we dominated. I thought we handled business effectively from minute one to the very end. I'm really proud of my guys.
"They locked in at 9:30 a.m. this morning at a walk-through, they locked in during our pop quiz on their personnel at team meal, they locked in from minute one to minute 40 until the end. It's a player's game. It's a testament to their grit and toughness," Wattad added.
Tringone fell one point shy of his career high.
"It's just coming in and doing the little things," Tringone said. "My numbers don't really jump off the stat sheet at you. They never will. I'm here to do the little things and I had a few opportunities early."
Daniels said he is just going with the flow of the game. "Versus LMU, I think we had an OK first half. But I think we could have done better. That's what I talked about before this game. We have to have a better first half against Columbus State."
Holding Smith below his average was very important.
"Obviously we keyed in on Marlon Smith," Wattad said. "We have a really, really smart bunch. This morning, we added a critical element to the game plan regarding Marlon. The guys executed it unbelievably."
Lander only made 19 of 33 free throws. "We just missed. Everybody is trying to make free throws. I believe in these guys whole-heartedly. These guys work on it. Shooting is fickle whether it's the three-ball or free throws. No basketball player on earth is trying to miss them. Sometimes they fall, sometimes they don't. It's just part of the game."
Wattad added, "Bearcat nation came out in droves today, from family members, our administration, our students coming out and locals from Greenwood. It felt like a home game. I think our guys were going to be ready regardless, but that just amplifies us. It brings extra juice. You feel the love from the crowd."
Trailing 5-4 early, Daniels found
Bobby Crawford Jr. on the back cut for a slam and then hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key as the Bearcats would never trail again. Then Tringone scored three times in the paint as Lander led 14-7 at the 11:20 mark.
Canoville's dunk gave the Bearcats a 17-10 lead at the midway point of the first half. Crawford's free throw put Lander up 22-14 inside the seven-minute mark.
Jydon Hall's two free throws capped a 7-0 run as Columbus State trailed 22-21 with 4:46 left.
But
Antewan Webber Jr. made a step-back 3-pointer, Pritzl added a trey from the left side, Daniels swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and Pritzl nailed another trey from the left side as Lander led 36-23 with 1:06 to go.
Canoville added two free throws as the Bearcats were up 38-26 at halftime.
Pritzl made his fourth and fifth 3-pointers and then hit three free throws after being fouled from behind the arc as Lander led 48-32 at the 15-minute mark.
Smith finally recorded his first basket of the game as the Cougars trailed 48-34 with 14:13 to go.
Daniels collected a back-court steal and found Webber open in the right corner for a 3-pointer, increasing the Bearcats' lead to 52-39 inside the 12-minute mark.
Tommy Moore knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner as Lander led 55-41 with 9:53 left.
Canoville took a lob pass from Daniels for a dunk and added finger roll layup, giving the Blue and Gold a 59-44 advantage with 8:40 to go.
Daniels made a 3-pointer, matching LU's biggest lead of the game at 64-48 with 7:15 left.
But Columbus State charged back, pulling within 67-60 on Smith's basket with 2:53 to go.
Lander was finally able to end the 8-0 Cougars run when after an offensive rebound by Tringone, Daniels made a jumper in the paint for a 69-60 advantage with 2:22 left.
Masiah Jones scored, Columbus State collected a back-court turnover and then Ahmed-Sory Soumahoro made two free throws as Lander's lead shrunk to 69-64 with 49 seconds left.
Lander's
Navaughn Maise missed a layup but made up for it by grabbing a defensive rebound on the other end. Daniels and Pritzl added free throws to clinch the victory.
