NEWBERRY, S.C. -  After a first-half performance that saw the Lander men's basketball team connect on seven 3-pointers, the Bearcats would fall in a close game to the Newberry Wolves 65-57 on the road Tuesday evening.

Lander drops to 4-1 overall while Newberry moves to 4-2 overall.

Noah Dunn led the Bearcats in scoring with 10 points while Tommy Moore was close behind with nine points while adding six assists. Ajang Aguek finished the night with four blocks and six points.

Although the Wolves scored the first two points of the game, the Bearcats came back with three 3-pointers as Chandler Lindsey hit one and DeAndre Robinson drilled the other two to establish a 9-2 edge after the first two minutes of the first half.

The Wolves would counter the Bearcats with an 8-0 run to take a temporary 10-9 advantage with 13:40 remaining before Dominic Stanford connected on a jumper to push the Bearcats back in front with a narrow 11-10 edge.

The Bearcats would go back to their long-range baskets as  Dunn and Jaylon Pugh hit 3-pointers while Jared Sherfield would dish in a layup to help the Bearcats take a 19-14 advantage shortly past the halfway mark of the first half.

Not wanting the half to get away from them, the Wolves used a 7-0 run to briefly take a 21-19 edge before Nigel Colvin sank a 3-pointer off a pass from Moore to retake the lead.

The half would conclude with the Bearcats taking a 29-26 edge into the half after Moore hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.

Lander would shoot 40.7 percent from the field in the first half while staying hot from deep with a 63.6 percent shooting percentage from 3-point range. Aguek recorded two blocks in the first half after recording three against the Wingate Bulldogs last Saturday. Along with Aguek's two blocks, Robinson also recorded a first-half block.

Newberry shot 35.3 percent from the field and 7.7 percent (1-for-13) from 3-point range in the first half. The Wolves did out-rebound the Bearcats 23-to-13 and had six blocks in the first half.

Stanford put away the first points of the first half after connecting on a jump shot off a pass from Lindsey to give the Blue and Gold a 31-26 lead with 18:03 left in the second half. Moore chipped in the next four points as he hit a jump shot and a layup to push the Bearcats to a 35-26 advantage before the Wolves took a timeout with 17:10 remaining. Newberry hit just its second 3-pointer to move within six of Lander shortly after the timeout.

Lindsey would assist on a 3-pointer from Stanford before hitting a jump shot of his own off a pass from Dunn to give Lander a 40-31 edge with 14:47 left in the second half.

After Navaugh Maise hit a pair of free throws, the Wolves sank a 3-pointer and a contested layup to get within one point of the Bearcats and make it a 41-40 contest with 12:31 left in the second.

After a media timeout, Aguek scored his first points of the night to make it 43-40 before the Wolves countered with a layup to keep it a one-point contest with 11:03 remaining. Newberry would retake the lead after a 3-pointer fell with 10:22 to give the Red and Black a 45-43 edge.

After the Wolves made a free throw to take a 46-43 lead, Aguek would score two points on a dunk to cut the Wolves lead to one point before Newberry extended its advantage to four points off a 3-pointer with 5:30 left in the second half.

Lander got back to within a point of the Wolves after Dunn drained a long-range shot off a pass from Moore to make it a 49-48 contest before Newberry countered with a layup to take a 51-48 edge with 3:52 left. Newberry extended its lead to five after a dunk made it a 53-48 contest with 3:08 left.

Aguek got the Blue and Gold back within three after a layup fell with 1:58 remaining.

The Wolves would use a pair of layups to go up 57-50.

Sherfield would quell the Wolves' scoring streak with a layup of his own to make it a 57-52 contest with 1:05 left.

Lander and Newberry would both hit a pair of free throws to keep Newberry's lead at five with 41 seconds remaining.

After the Wolves hit two more free throws, Pugh got the Bearcats within four with a 3-point shot with 19 seconds to make it a 61-57 contest.

Newberry connected on four more free throws to end the game up 65-57.

Lander ended the game shooting 41.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from 3-point range. After a hot first half from long range, the Bearcats only shot 23.1 percent in the second half from 3-point range. 

Lander returns to Horne Arena for its next contest as it hosts King University on November 27 for a 3:30 pm start.

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