Men's Basketball 11/11/2021 7:18:00 PM

Men's basketball begins the season with Southern Wesleyan and Anderson on Friday and Saturday

GREENWOOD – The Lander Men's basketball team begins the 2021-22 season with a pair of games in Anderson, S.C., when the Bearcats battle Southern Wesleyan and Anderson this Friday and Saturday.

QUICK HITTERS
Location: Abney Athletic Center (Anderson, S.C.)
Time: Southern Wesleyan (Nov. 12, 1 pm), Anderson (Nov. 13, 3 pm)
Lander's Record (2020-21):7-9, 5-7 PBC
SWU's Record (2020-21): 9-5, 9-4 CC
Anderson's Record (2020-21): 7-12, 6-11 SAC
Last 10 against SWU: 9-1
Last 10 against Anderson: 7-3
Who's Next: VS Southern Wesleyan (Nov. 17)

STORYLINES

The Bearcats begin the 2021-22 season with a pair of games against the Southern Wesleyan Warriors and Anderson Trojans this Friday and Saturday.
Lander went 7-9 overall and 5-7 in the PBC in head coach Omar Wattad's first season leading the Bearcats.
Wattad earned his first win with the Bearcats on Dec. 9, 2020 when they defeated USC Aiken 73-66 on the road.
Lander also started last season with an exhibition match against UT-Chattanooga, the alma mater of coach Wattad.
The PBC recently released the preseason poll for the upcoming season, with the Bearcats picked to finish tied for sixth with Georgia College.
No. 2/2 Flagler was picked to finish first. Augusta and Georgia Southwestern were picked to finish second and third.
Lander welcomes Darius Carter and Mike Brown as assistant coaches this season.
DaJuan Moorer is the leading returning scorer for the Bearcats coming into the season. Moorer was named to the all-PBC second team last season after averaging 12.0 points per game. Moorer led the Bearcats in rebounds per game with 7.3 and blocks with 27.
Jared Sherfield and Zane Rankin are the no. 2 and 3 returning scorers with 10.8 and 9.2 points per game. Rankin led the Bearcats with 40 made 3-pointers made.
Lander is returning eight players with seven leaving the Blue and Gold.
Along with Moorer, Sherfield and Rankin; the Bearcats bring back LaRaymond Spivery, Sebastian Augustave, John Haddock Rogers, Xavier Allen and DeShundre Rucker.
Lander welcomes eight newcomers to the program, with four of them transferring. Martin Vogts comes from Pittsburg State, Deandre Robinson makes his way from the University of Idaho, Nigel Colvin transfers from Lake Superior State and Maison Hall makes the short trip down from Spartanburg Methodist College.
The Bearcats also welcome freshman Omarion Smith. Tommy Moore, Navaughn Maise and Dominic Stanford.
The Bearcats were in the top-four in scoring last season, scoring 78.2 points per game and totaling 1,251 points last season. The Bearcats were also one of the PBC's top rebounding teams, hauling in 38.8 rebounds per game and 621 overall.
Turnovers were a problem for the Bearcats, as the Blue and Gold turned the ball over the third most among PBC teams. Lander averaged 15.7 turnovers per game.
Rankin ranked second in the PBC in 3-point shooting, with a .440 shooting percentage from beyond the arc.
Southern Wesleyan, who the Bearcats will begin the season against on Friday, went 9-5 overall and 9-4 in Conference Carolinas. The Warriors started the season with three exhibitions against Div. I opponents. SWU defeated USC Upstate 82-72 to begin the exhibition slate while losing to Furman and Mercer. The Warriors advanced to the CC quarterfinals where they lost 79-75 to Chowan.
After Lander, SWU will take on No. 2/2 Flagler on Saturday as part of the conference crossover in Anderson.
As a team, the Warriors averaged 77.9 points per game while allowing 74.1. They shot the ball at a 47.7 percentage rate from the field and 37.9 percent from 3-point range.
SWU averaged 31.6 rebounds while giving up 34.4, a margin of -2.7.
SWU returns its leading scorer in Demarcus Addie. Addie averaged 18.4 points per game after playing and starting 14 games for the Warriors last season. The Warriors also return their leading rebounder in Solomon Smith who averaged 7.0 rebounds per game.
Southern Wesleyan was picked to finish fourth in the Conference Carolinas preseason poll. Emmanuel College was picked to finish first with seven first place votes. Belmont Abbey and UNC Pembroke were picked to finish second and third. BAC received two first place votes while UNC Pembroke received the remaining four first place votes.
Anderson, the Bearcats opponent on Saturday, went 7-12 overall and 6-11 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Trojans lost to Queens (N.C.) in the SAC quarterfinals 96-91.
The Trojans were picked to finish eighth in the SAC preseason poll. Queens (N.C.) was picked to finish first.
Anderson was led in scoring by Crosby Jones II last season. He averaged 15.3 ppg while also hauling in 3.8 rebounds per game and 1.6 assists per game.
The Trojans averaged 75.9 points per game as a team while shooting 44 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from beyond the arc. They also brought in 34.8 rebounds per game as a team and had 11.9 assists per game last season.
Anderson allowed 75.4 points per game while opponents shot 43.2 percent from the floor and 35.6 percent from 3-point range.
The Bearcats will host Southern Wesleyan for their home opener on Nov. 17.