MORROW, GA. – The Lander men's basketball team got back on track as it defeated the Clayton State Lakers 79-72 on the road Monday evening.
Lander moves to 9-8 overall and 4-4 in the PBC while Clayton State drops to 6-11 overall and 1-6 in the PBC.
Tommy Moore led the Bearcats in scoring for the first time this season with 19 points. He also had two rebounds and one assist. Moore becomes the eighth player for Lander to lead the team in scoring this season. Jared Sherfield, Dominic Stanford and Nigel Colvin all joined Moore in double figures in scoring. Lander has had 10 games now that four or more players reached 10 or more points in a game.
Lander shot 46.9 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from deep while Clayton State went 46.9 percent from the field and 33.3 from 3-point range.
The Bearcats would chip in 40 points down in the pain and 20 points off turnovers against the Lakers.
The Bearcats had a slow start in the first half, as they trailed the Lakers 9-2 with 17:20 left in the first half. Lander would trail as many as 14 in the first half before free throws from Moore and Sherfield brought the deficit down to 10 with 8:57 left in the first frame with the Lakers leading 28-18. Lander would then see the lead cut to five after Nigel Colvin dropped in a jumper while Stanford let loose a 3-pointer to make it 28-25 with 7:52 remaining. The Bearcats would tangle with the Lakers for the remainder of the half, getting the lead down to just one point after Stanford floated a jumper in the paint to make it 39-38 with 43 seconds left.
Lander would finally take the lead in the second half when Sherfield drained a 3-point shot to make it 47-46 Lander with 18:22 left. After seeing the game tied and the lead switching side for the next four minutes, Lander would take control of the contest after Moore hit a jumper to give Lander a 54-54 advantage with 14:26 remaining in the second.
Lander would outscore the Lakers 40-30 in the second half with Moore scoring 13 of his 19 points in the second half. Going 4-of-6 from the field, Moore also went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
The Bearcats would go up by as many as 13 when Staford hit a jumper on a fast break to give Lander a 68-55 lead with 8:16 remaining. The Lakers made a late push, getting the lead down to four points with 1:47 left, but the Bearcats would take advantage of the extra trips to the free-throw line, with Moore hitting all four of his free throws in the last 20 seconds of the contest.
Lander returns to Horne Arena on Wednesday, January 26 to host Georgia College at 6:30 pm.
#cLawsUp | @LanderMBB
