GREENWOOD – The Lander men's basketball team twice pulled into a tie in the last three minutes, but a 3-pointer by Ta'Jay Dunlap with 48 seconds left gave Southern Wesleyan a 68-65 victory over the Bearcats in a non-conference game Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
Jared Sherfield paced Lander (0-3) with 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
DaJuan Moorer added 11 points and three blocked shots for the Bearcats while
Martin Vogts scored 10 points.
Tranard Ferrell paced the Warriors (2-1) with a double-double, totaling 14 points and 11 boards while also leading the visitors with five assists. Dunlap, Arusha Hunter and Demarcus Addie added 12 points apiece.
Lander grabbed a 6-3 lead in the opening minute and 20 seconds when Moorer converted a three-point play and Vogts hit a 3-pointer. After Southern Wesleyan moved in front 15-12 on Davion Bradford's layup,
Nigel Colvin tied it for the Bearcats with a 3 from the right side making it 15-all with 9:56 left in the half.
Hunter's 3 tied the game at 22-all for the Warriors with 4:45 left. But Lander went on a 9-3 run on Moorer's layup,
Tommy Moore's driving lay-in,
Navaughn Maise's bucket in the paint, and
Deandre Robinson's 3 from the right wing for a 31-25 advantage inside two minutes to go.
But Southern Wesleyan closed the half with five unanswered points on Ferrell's 3 and Hunter Davis's free throws to pull within 31-30 at the break.
The Bearcats got off to a fast start in the second half as Vogts hit a 3, Sherfield made a put-back, and Robinson nailed a trey for a 39-33 lead near the 17-minute mark.
Southern Wesleyan responded with a 10-0 run over the next three-plus minutes, taking a 43-39 advantage with 13:37 left. But Lander tied it at 43-all just inside the 13-minute mark on Maise's layup off a long pass from Colvin.
Addie's long 3 with 11:28 left gave Southern Wesleyan a 51-46 lead, its largest lead of the game to that point. Two possessions later, the Warriors got five offensive rebounds but could not score.
LaRaymond Spivery's 3 from the left corner cut Lander's deficit to 51-49 just inside the 10-minute mark.
Hunter's 3 pushed the visitor lead to 56-49, but the Bearcats got within 56-54 on Sherfield's trey from the top of the key with 6:44 to go. And Robinson's 3 pulled the Blue and Gold within 58-57 with 5:08 left.
Moorer's driving layup turned into a game-tying three-point play as Lander pulled even at 62-all with 2:58 to go. But Dunlap's 3 put the Warriors back on top 65-62.
The Bearcats knotted the game back up yet again, this time at 65, with 1:09 to go when Sherfield hit a floater in the lane, was fouled, and converted a three-point play.
But Southern Wesleyan answered yet again when Dunlap's 3 put the visitors back on top 68-65 with 48 seconds left.
The Warriors blocked a shot on the other end, however their attempt to extend the lead failed on a missed 3-point attempt. Vogts got the defensive rebound with 17 seconds left as Lander had another chance to tie. The Bearcats called a timeout with four seconds to go, but Southern Wesleyan played tight defense at the top of the arc and stole a pass with one second left to clinch the win.
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