GREENWOOD – The Lander men's basketball team got a career-high 34 points from Sidney Robinson but lost a chance to pull into a first-place tie in the Peach Belt Conference, falling to No. 20-ranked UNC Pembroke 81-66 Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

The Bearcats lost for just the second time in nine games, falling to 17-6 overall and 11-4 in the PBC.

UNC Pembroke improved to 19-4 and stayed on top of the Peach Belt standings at 13-2.

USC Aiken beat Flagler Wednesday night to move into second place at 12-3 while Augusta downed Francis Marion to tie Lander for third at 11-4.

Robinson was by far the game's top scorer, more than doubling UNC Pembroke's leader. Robinson made 11 of 17 shots from the floor including seven of 13 from 3-point range.

Robinson was the only double-figure scorer for the Bearcats. Tyler Brevard was second with seven points while DaJuan Moorer paced Lander with six rebounds.

David Strother led the Braves with 16 points while Spencer Levi and Tyrell Kirk added 15 points apiece.

Cortez Marion-Holmes had 10 points for UNC Pembroke and was the game's top rebounder with seven. Jabrie Bullard also scored 10 points for the Braves.

Robinson made two 3-pointers in a row, giving Lander a 14-9 advantage at the 15-minute mark of the first half.

UNC Pembroke responded with a 17-7 run, taking a 26-21 lead on Jordan Ratliffe's 3 with seven minutes to go.

Robinson once again made a pair of 3s in a row, pushing the Bearcats back into the lead at 35-33 with two minutes left.

The Braves led 39-36 at halftime. There were seven ties and five lead changes in the opening half.

Levi's dunk gave UNC Pembroke its biggest lead of the game at 45-37 inside 16 minutes left.

Robinson rallied Lander again, making a 3 and adding two of three free throws when fouled behind the arc. Following Deon Berrien's layup off a steal by DeShundre Rucker, Robinson made another free throw to tie the game at 45 with 12:30 to go.

Tyrell Kirk, Bullard and Strother made treys while Shaun Kirk had a dunk as the Braves moved back in front, 57-49, matching their largest lead of the night with 7:45 left.

Strother and Levi scored off Bearcat turnovers as UNC Pembroke's lead grew to 63-51 with 5:40 remaining.

After Robinson's layup pulled Lander within 65-56 with 4:23 to go, the Braves blew the game open when Bullard and Akia Pruitt hit 3s for a 71-56 advantage.

UNC Pembroke led by as many as 18 points in the final minutes.

Next up, the Bearcats are scheduled to travel to North Georgia on Saturday, Feb. 15. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m.

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