GREENWOOD – The Lander men's basketball team suffered its third heart-breaking loss of the week despite Deon Berrien's heroics of making two game-tying shots as the Bearcats fell to Peach Belt Conference rival Augusta 99-97 in double overtime Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

Lander fell to 6-9 overall and 4-7 in the PBC.

The Jaguars beat Lander for the third time this season, two of them being conference games as they improved to 7-6, 5-6.

The Bearcats fell to Columbus State on Monday in Horne Arena on a basket with two seconds left. On Wednesday night, also at home, Lander led No. 18 Flagler by 16 points with three minutes to go in regulation only to see the Saints tie it with a 3-pointer at the buzzer and win in overtime.

This time, the Bearcats seemed to receive some good karma when they themselves hit a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime as Berrien hit the shot to knot the score at 80. Lander had been down six points with just over one minute to go.

The Bearcats rallied from eight down in the first overtime with Berrien making another late 3 and adding a game-tying basket with six seconds to go, sending the game into double overtime tied at 92.

Lander fell behind in double overtime and fought back again but fell two points shy.

Jared Sherfield paced the Bearcats with a season-high 28 points, making seven of 11 from behind the arc.

Berrien made five 3s and finished with 25 points while leading Lander with six assists.

LaRaymond Spivery added 14 points and five assists for the Bearcats. Marcus Thompson scored 14 points for Lander while pacing the team with nine rebounds. DaJuan Moorer added 10 points for the Bearcats.

Augusta's Tyree Myers led all scorers with 29 points while leading the visitors with six assists. Tyshaun Crawford added 19 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.

Lee Flenor scored 16 points for the Jaguars while John Whitehead III added 10.

There were eight ties and 12 lead changes in the first half when Sherfield scored 15 points for Lander while Berrien added 10. Appropriately, the game was tied 39-all at the intermission.

The biggest lead for the Bearcats in the first half was 8-3 after Sherfield's second consecutive 3-pointer. Augusta's largest advantage was three points at 22-19 on Flenor's three-point play at the 10-minute mark.

Lander followed with its largest run of points in the first half with seven unanswered. Thompson made a put-back, Sherfield hit a 3 from the right corner, and MJ Armstrong added a driving layup giving the Blue and Gold a 26-22 lead with nine minutes to go.

The lead changed hands four more times before the end of the half. Augusta's Daniel Allen made a game-tying shot in the lane at the buzzer.

After three more ties early in the second half, the Blue and Gold scored eight straight to take a 51-45 advantage inside the 16-minute mark. Moorer completed a three-point play, Sherfield made a 3 from the top of the key, and Jermaine Patterson hit a short floater in the lane.

The Jaguars ran off eight unanswered to regain a 53-51 lead, but Moorer's three-point play dunk put Lander back on top.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued when Lander's Thompson made two free throws to knot the score at 59 with 10:32 to go, the 14th tie of the day.

Augusta scored seven straight points to go up 66-59 with nine minutes left, the largest lead for either team to this point.

Myers made a driving layup off a Crawford blocked shot as the visitors led 71-62 with 6:40 to go.

Sherfield's sixth trey of the game pulled the Bearcats within 76-70 with 4:11 left. Berrien's two free throws cut the Blue and Gold deficit to 77-72 at the 3:18 mark.

After the Jaguars ran the shot clock down but failed to score, Thompson's layup with 1:04 remaining pulled Lander within 78-74.

The Bearcats stopped Augusta again and Spivery hit a 3 in front of the Lander bench to pull the hosts within 78-77 with 40 seconds to go.

After the Bearcats nearly stole the ball, the Jaguars ran the shot clock down and Myers was fouled with 10 seconds left, hitting both free throws for an 80-77 advantage.

Then Berrien came through with the dramatics, dribbling around the perimeter and hitting a step-back 3 from the left side with a hand in his face as the buzzer sounded, sending the game into overtime tied at 80-80.

Augusta scored the first four points in overtime before Thompson's two free throws pulled Lander within 84-82 just inside the three-minute mark.

But Crawford, Flenor and Myers scored consecutive baskets as the Jaguars pushed their advantage to 90-82 with 1:26 to go.

Thompson's three-point play cut the Bearcat deficit to 90-85 at the one-minute mark and a back-court steal by Tra'Sean Staggs led to a pair of Berrien free throws and a 90-87 deficit.

After an Augusta free throw, Berrien's 3-pointer from the top of the key with 28 seconds to go cut Lander's deficit to 91-90. After the Jaguars once again made one of two free throws, Berrien made a driving layup to tie the game at 92 with six seconds left.

Augusta's Myers turned the ball over with two seconds left and Berrien missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer as the game went into double overtime.

The second overtime was scoreless for almost three minutes until Whitehead put the Jaguars on top with a 3, making it 95-92 with 2:11 to go.

Sherfield's free throws pulled the Blue and Gold back within one. But Crawford's basket put Augusta back up by three and following a Bearcats missed shot and a turnover on consecutive possessions, Augusta's Myers added two free throws for a 99-94 advantage.

Lander failed to score again and Myers went back to the free-throw line but missed both. Sherfield made a 3 from the right side with a second left, pulling the Bearcats within 99-97. But the Jaguars got the ball in and the game was over.

#cLawsUp | @LanderMBB