AUGUSTA, Ga. – After an impressive first half, the Lander men's basketball team fell to Augusta University 87-72 at the Christenberry Fieldhouse.

The Bearcats move to 0-1 overall with the loss while Augusta moves to 1-0 overall.

Senior Deon Berrien led the way for the Bearcats, scoring 19 points along with hauling in four rebounds. Two other Bearcats hit double-figures for scoring, as junior Jermaine Patterson scored 15 points along with four assists while senior Sidney Robinson chipped in 11 points while contributing an assist and rebound.

Lander shot 29-of-59 (49.2%) from the field along with 10-of-26 (38.5%) from beyond the arc.

After trailing Augusta almost half of the first frame, the Bearcats came to life, going on a 9-2 run to make it an 18-16 with 10:50 remaining to give the Blue and Gold their first lead of the game. Lander continued to widen the gap, starting with a layup from junior Marcus Thompson to make it 20-16 with 10:13 remaining.

Lander continued to find twine, as the Bearcats went into overdrive and finished out the first half on a 23-9 run to finish the half up 43-25. Berrien scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half while shooting 6-for-11 from the field. In total, the Bearcats shot 57.6 percent from the field in the first half along with a cool 41.7 percent from beyond the arc.

The second half would prove to be a different story for the Bearcats, as the Jaguars would not stay down for long. Augusta would start the second frame by going on a 16-0 run to make push the Jaguars within two points before Berrien made a layup at the 15:55 mark to stop the run momentarily. It wouldn't be long however before Augusta found a seam to burst through, as a jumper made its way through the hoop at 12:52 to give August its first lead since the 12-minute mark of the first half.

After going down by as much as eight, the Bearcats pushed back tying the game at 64 with 3:43 left. That however would be the closest the Blue and Gold would come to reclaiming the lead, as the Jaguars would run away on the heels of a 23-8 run to close out the game.

Lander is back in action on Saturday, December 12 as it travels to Aiken, S.C., to battle the Pacers.

#cLawsUp | @LanderMBB