AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Lander men's basketball team rallied throughout the second half, but fell to Augusta State, 72-64, in a Peach Belt Conference contest Wednesday night at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
ASU improves to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in the PBC, while Lander slips to 9-3, 3-2.
The Bearcats were led by Corey Wright, who netted a game-high 24 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished off eight assists. Wright connected on 9-of-15 field goals and all five of his free throws. David Pruett netted 14 points, Dwight Tolbert had 10 points and Dennis Rumph eight rebounds.
The Jaguars were led by O'Neal Armstrong, who scored 23 points, while Devon Wright-Nelson had 13 points and nine rebounds, Devonte Thomas 12 points, and Travis Keels 11 points and nine boards.
Lander connected on 25-of-54 field goals for 46.3 percent, including 5-of-19 threes for 26.3 percent. The Bearcats also sank 9-of-15 foul shots for 60 percent.
Augusta State, which outrebounded Lander, 36-32, was 23-of-58 from the field for 39.7 percent, including 9-of-24 threes for 37.5 percent. The Jaguars also made 17-of-20 free throws for 85 percent.
The Bearcats opened the second half with a 9-0 run to cut the Augusta State lead to 43-38 on a Wright three-point play at 14:46. Lander eventually trimmed the Jags' lead to four points, 51-47, on a Jermel Kennedy free throw with 9:43 remaining in the game, but ASU followed with a 9-0 run to go up 60-47 with 7:08 left.
The Bearcats trailed by double figures until the final minute when Wright sank two free throws to make it 68-60.
After Corey Wright gave Lander a 11-10 lead on a layup at 14:45 in the first half, ASU regain advantage at 12-11 on a pair of D'Angelo Boyce free throws then continued to extend its lead to 22-15 on a three by Armstrong.
Rumph connected on a three-point play at 10:06 to cut the margin to 22-18, but the Jags responded with a 12-2 run and led 34-20 on a Boyce layup with 5:44 left.
A Pruett three at 3:20 cut the ASU advantage to nine at 36-27, but ASU used a tip-in from Keels and another layup from O'Neal to go up 40-27.
Pruett's field goal with 51 seconds remaining sent the Bearcats to halftime down 40-29.
