PEMBROKE, N.C. – The Lander men's basketball team's furious second-half rally came up short Saturday afternoon as the Bearcats fell to UNC Pembroke, 79-75, in a Peach Belt Conference game at the English E. Jones Center.
UNCP improves to 6-3 overall and 1-0 in the PBC, while Lander moves to 3-2, 1-1.
Down 74-56 with 7:47 remaining in the game, Lander used a 16-2 run to trim the Braves' lead to 76-72 with 1:15 left. During the run, Dwight Tolbert had two threes and two free throws, Jermel Kennedy one bucket, Corey Wright a basket and three foul shots, and Darius Carrier a pair of free throws.
But UNCP's Marcus Heath sank two free throws to give UNCP a 78-72 lead with 26 seconds to go and Mike Robinson added another foul shot 10 seconds later to make it 79-72.
Wright nailed a three pointer with eight seconds left for the Bearcats final score.
Tolbert and Wright scored 25 and 23 points respectively to lead the Bearcats, while Darion Canty added 11. Tolbert connected on 8-of-16 field goals and 6-of-8 free throws, and Wright was 7-of-14 from the field and 7-of-10 from the line. Tolbert also led Lander in rebounds and steals with eight and four respectively.
UNCP placed four players in double figures led by Shahmel Brackett's 22 points. Heath added 17, George Blakeney 15 and K.J. Cooper 10. Mike Robinson led the Braves in rebounds with nine, while Nathan Priest had seven and Heath six.
Lander connected on 26-of-56 shots for 46.4 percent, including 5-of-21 threes for 23.8 percent and 18-of-24 foul shots for 75 percent.
UNC Pembroke made 30-of-63 field goals for 47.6 percent, including 8-of-18 threes for 44.4 percent and 11-of-14 free throws for 78.6 percent.
After leading most of the first half, UNCP snapped a 24-24 tie on a Blakeney layup with 8:43 left in the first stanza and built up a 10-point lead at 43-33 before going to the lockerroom with a 46-37 lead.
Pembroke opened the second half with a 14-5 run to take a 60-42 advantage in the first four minutes of the period.
A Tolbert layup with 9:33 remaining cut the lead to 66-56, but the Braves responded with an 8-0 scoring spree to take a 74-56 lead.
