FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – On the heels of its first win of the season, the Lander men's basketball team fell to Fayetteville State 58-53 on the road Wednesday afternoon.
STAT LEADER
Points: Zane Rankin – 19 pts, 5-11 3pt | Rebounds: Zane Rankin – 7 reb | Assists: Two Tied (2) | Steals: Martin Vogts – 3 stl | Blocks: DeShundre Rucker – 1 blk
TEAM STATS TO KNOW
Lander: Fg% - 35.8% (19-53) | 3pt% - 28.0% (7-25) | ft% - 72.7% (8-11) | Rebounds – 34| Turnovers – 13 | Steals – 5
Fayetteville State: fg% - 35.5% (22-62) – 3pt% - 43.8% (7-16) | ft% - 77.8% (7-9) |Rebounds – 41 | Turnovers – 12 | Steals – 3
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The Bearcats would take an early 3-0 lead off a made free throw from Dominic Stanford and a layup from Zane Rankin with 19:16 remaining. Fayetteville State hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 18:51 left in the first half. Things would go back to even at 6-6 with 16:02 left after a 3-pointer was made from Rankin and a Bronco jumper fell.
After the 6-6 tie, Fayetteville State would control the remainder of the first half, seeing its lead stretch to nine points on numerous occasions. Lander would get the lead down to three on a tip-in from Stanford to make it 27-24 with 2:16 left, but the Broncos responded with a basket of their own to take a 29-24 advantage into halftime.
In all four of their losses this season, the Bearcats have lost by five or fewer points.
Second Half
Lander wasted no time getting things moving, as an early 3-point shot made by Rankin quickly cut the lead down to two points with 19:47 remaining. Beginning the second half on a 12-3 run, the Bearcats would go up by as many as four points with 14:48 after a pair of Rankin free throws. A 3-pointer from the Broncos would drop Lander's lead to one point, but Martin Vogts would drill a 3-pointer of his own with 11:53 to bump Lander up 39-35.
The Broncos would tie the game at 44-44 with 8:59 left and would run out to a lead as big as seven points.
Lander would get within three points with 32 seconds left after a free throw from Navaughn Maise, but the Bearcats couldn't get much closer.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bearcats stay on the road as they travel to face Claflin on Monday, November 29 for a 7 pm tipoff.
#cLawsUp | @LanderMBB
