GREENWOOD – Dwight Tolbert and David Pruett combined for 54 points Saturday afternoon to lead the Lander men's basketball team to a 79-75 Peach Belt Conference victory over UNC Pembroke on Senior Day in Horne Arena. The game was the regular-season finale for both teams, who advance to next week's PBC Tournament in Columbus, Ga. (Peach Belt Tournament Bracket)
Lander improves to 18-8 overall and 11-7 in the PBC, while the Braves drop to 17-11, 11-7.
Tolbert connected on 11-of-20 field goals, including 5-of-12 threes, and 3-of-5 free throws. Pruett, who netted 21 second-half points, was 7-of-15 from the floor, including 5-of-11 threes, and made all five of his foul shots. Corey Wright added a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Darius Carrier had a team best nine rebounds.
The Braves were led by Shahmel Brackett and Marcus Heath, who scored 16 points each. Heath and Ben Jacobs led the team in rebounds with seven each.
Down 35-27 at halftime, the Bearcats gradually chipped at the Braves' lead until they tied it at 47-47 with 13:52 left to play.
From there, Lander went on a 12-3 run to take a 59-50 lead on a Wright layup with 9:35 remaining.
UNCP rallied to cut the margin to 64-63 on a Brackett layup at 5:47, but Tolbert put Lander up 71-66 with three free throws at 3:57.
After Pembroke's K.J. Cooper scored a goal, Lander countered with two Dennis Rumph free throws to make it 73-68 at 3:07.
Shahmel's two foul shots cut it to 73-70 at 2:39 and Lander came back with two Pruett foul shots one minute later. Pruett sank two more from the charity stripe with 13 second remaining to make it 79-73.
The two teams played tight the first seven minutes of the game, then Lander eased out to a 19-10 lead on a Tolbert jumper with 10:21 left in the half.
The Braves went on a 12-2 run to take a 22-21 lead at 6:29 on a Griffin Pittman jumper. After four more lead changes saw UNCP take a 27-25 advantage on a Heath three, the Braves finished the half with a 10-2 run and a 35-27 lead at intermission.
Lander connected on 28-of-58 field goals for 48.3 percent, including 10-of-24 three pointers for 41.7 percent. The Bearcats also dropped in 13-of-18 free throws for 72.2 percent.
UNCP made 28-of-67 floor shots for 41.8 percent, including 9-of-25 threes for 36 percent. The Braves sank 10-of-11 foul shots for 90.9 percent.
