GREENWOOD – After waiting through the uncertainty due to COVID, the Lander men's basketball team is ready to kick things off with an exhibition match against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Wednesday, November 25.

STORYLINES

• Wednesday's contest is scheduled as an exhibition for the Bearcats and a regular-season contest for the Mocs.
• Fans can watch the Bearcats take on the Mocs on ESPN + (Subscription or free trial required) or listen to the Blue and Gold on the Bearcat Broadcast Network.
• This marks the first time Lander and Chatanooga will have faced each other.
• The Bearcats are playing a Div. I opponent for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Lander not only faced Clemson in an exhibition but played South Carolina in a regular-season game that same season. 
• The Mocs are coming off a 20-13 season, making it to the SoCon semifinals where they were defeated by Wofford 72-70.
• This was the first 20-win season for the Mocs since the 2015-16 season where they won the SoCon Tournament. It was also the first winning season since 2016-17 where Chattanooga went 19-12.
• The Mocs are 9-0 against schools in the PBC since the conference's inception during the 1990-91 season. The Mocs most recent PBC opponent was USC Aiken back on November 23, 1996, where Chattanooga won 110-61 at Chattanooga. The Mocs are 2-0 against Columbus State, 1-0 against Augusta State and 6-0 against Aiken
• Chattanooga will be without their top-two scorers from last season, as both Matt Ryan and Raymond Villa are gone. The returning leading scorer is redshirt junior David Jean-Baptiste. Jean-Baptist started in 33 games and averaged 12.6 points per game. He also averaged 3.9 rebounds per game along with 2.4 assists per game and a team-high 0.9 steals per game.
• Chattanooga is scheduled to play Northern Kentucky from the Horizon Conference next Saturday, November 28.
• Lander is set to travel to face Augusta State next on December 2. Tip-off is set for 6 pm. 
• This is the first season under head coach Omar Wattad for the Bearcats. He was previously at Lincoln Memorial, helping the Railsplitters to a 178-24 record as an assistant under Josh Schertz. Wattad becomes just the eighth head coach in program history. 
• Playing at Chattanooga for two seasons, Wattad compiled 820 points, 230 rebounds and 119 assists in two seasons with the Mocs as a two-time All-Southern Conference performer. Upon graduation, Wattad ranked fourth all-time at UTC for career three-point field goals, fifth in three-point field goal attempts and 30th in scoring in the program's D-I era.
• The Bearcats are entering their 53rd season of action. In season openers, the Blue and Gold are 37-15 and are currently riding a six-season streak of winning the season opener. Lander had matched this streak just once before, winning six season openers in a row between 1978 through 1983.
• Lander is coming off a 23-8 season, which saw them go 15-1 at home. The Bearcats record was the best they've recorded since the 2014-15 season where they went 15-3.
• The Blue and Gold have never gone undefeated at home. Including last season, Lander has three one-loss seasons at home. Along with the 2019-20 season, they've gone 11-1 during the 1998-99 season and 13-1 during the 2011-12 season.
• After being picked to finish ninth in last season's PBC preseason coaches poll, the Bearcats won a program-high 14 conference games last season.
• Their 23 wins were the most since the 2015-16 season where the Bearcats went 22-10. The Blue and Gold also cut down the nets that season, as they beat Augusta 87-86 in double overtime before falling to Lincoln Memorial in the Southeast Regional.
• The most wins in a single season for the Bearcats is 26, with the Bearcats going 26-8 during the 1988-89 season.
• Lander was ranked in the top-100 in many categories last season, including field-goal percentage (40), free throw attempts (55), free throws made (52), rebound margin (7), scoring margin (53), scoring offense (34), steals per game (61), three pt fg defense (40), three-point field-goal percentage (35), total blocks (92) and won-lost percentage (T-40).
• The Last game Lander played was in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Final against Columbus State, which saw the Bearcats pull away with a close 76-73 victory to claim their fifth conference title. 
• The Bearcats saw many avenues for scoring last season, with five players averaging 10+ points per game. Leading scorer senior Deon Berrien returns after scoring 13.3 PPG along with 47.5 percent from the field. Seniors Sidney Robinson and DaJuan Moorer both return after scoring 11.2 PPG and 10.4 PPG respectively. Moorer also led the team in rebounds per game with 7.3 and blocks per game with 1.5. Senior LaRaymond Spivery led the way in assists with an average of three per game. Lander will be without their no. two and four leading scorers from last season, with Tyler Brevard and Elijah Alston graduating.
• Four transfers join the roster this season for the Bearcats, with junior Jared Sherfield coming from Tennessee Tech (OVC), redshirt sophomore MJ Armstrong coming from Lincoln Memorial (SAC), junior Jermaine Paterson from Queens (SAC) and junior Marcus Thompson from Monroe CC (JUCO).
• Sherfield appeared in 20 games last season for the Golden Eagles along with one start. He shot 37.7 percent from the field and averaged 1.6 rebounds a game. Armstrong appeared in 17 games for the Railsplitters last season where he shot 45 percent from the field. Paterson appeared in 29 games last season for the Royals where he averaged 17.2 minutes per game, 7.8 points per game, 2.2 rebounds per game along with shooting 43.1 percent from the field.
• Other newcomers include freshmen Xavier Allen from Mattituck N.Y., Santana Turner from Blythewood, S.C., Tra'Sean Staggs from Spartanburg, S.C., John Haddock Rogers from Anderson, S.C., and Sebastian Augustave from Atlanta, Ga.
• The Bearcats welcome back seven returners in total from last season.

#cLawsUp | @LanderMBB