AUGUSTA, GA. - The Lander men's basketball team fell to Augusta, 77-71, Wednesday night at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

With the loss, Lander falls to 16-5 (10-3 PBC), while Augusta improves to 14-7 (9-4 PBC).

Zane Rankin led the Bearcats with 18 points as he shot 6-of-7 shooting from long range.

Rankin was joined in double figures by two other Lander players. DaJuan Moorer contributed 14 points and eight rebounds, Tyler Brevard had 13 points.

The start of the game was a back and forth affair. The Jaguars would use their size and pound the ball inside and take a 10-point lead in the middle of the half. The Bearcats continued to battle as they used a couple of three-pointers to trim the deficit to single digits. The Bearcats would go into the halftime down 41-38.

The Bearcats would come out of the break and attempt to claw back as they would tie the game and trade leads throughout the second half. However, the Bearcats could not get consistent stops on defense as the Jaguars would have an answer for everything. The Jaguars would continue to make shots and would get stops to close the game out.

Lander returns to action Saturday when it hosts Columbus State. The game will begin at 3:30 p.m. and will be live-streamed on the Bearcat Broadcasting Network.

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