BLUEFIELD, W.Va. - The Lander men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon when it fell to West Virginia Tech, 80-76, in a non-conference contest in the Bluefield State College Concurrence Classic at Ned Shott Gymnasium.

West Virginia Tech improves to 8-4 overall, while Lander slips to 3-1.

Lander placed five players in double figures as Corey Wright and Jareal Smith led the way with 18 points each. Dermaine Smith added 12 points and 19 rebounds, while Darius Carrier had 11 points and nine rebounds and David Pruett 10 points.

The Golden Bears were paced by Brandon Burgraff's 23 points, David Rawlinson's 18 points and 12 assists, Jaren Marino's 15 points and 12 rebounds and Terrale Clark's 11 points.

The Bearcats jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first three and a half minutes of the game on Dermaine Smith's six points and two each by Wright and Jareal Smith.

West Virginia Tech, closed the gap to 15-14 on Marino's layup at 11:14.

Wright's jumper at 10:29 gave Lander a 17-14 advantage, then he downed a three at 8:21 to stretch it to 20-16.

Tech responded with Burgraff's three at 7:52 to cut the margin to 20-19.

The Golden Bears tied at 25-all with 4:09 left in the half on Floyd Campbell's free throw, then took their first lead of the game at 27-25 on a Campbell layup.

Lander's Scott Elder dropped in two foul shots at 3:32 to tie the game at 27-all, then the two teams remained knotted at halftime, at 31-31.

After ties at 34- and 36-all, the Golden Bears went on a 9-0 run to take a 45-36 lead with 16:05 left to play. The Bearcats were unable to cut that lead until the final minutes.

Lander connected on 27-of-84 field goals for 32.1 percent, including 8-of-33 three pointers (24.2 percent). Lander sank 14-of-21 free throws for 66.7 percent.

West Virginia Tech made 27-of-63 floor shots for 42.9 percent, including 9-of-22 threes (40.9 percent) and  17-of-27 foul shots for 63 percent.