COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Lander men's basketball team left the Peach State with a 74-59 victory over Columbus State to begin Peach Belt Conference action Thursday evening.
Lander moves to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in the PBC while Columbus State drops to 7-4 overall and 0-2 in the PBC.
The Bearcats had four players in double-figures in scoring with Jared Sherfield leading the way with 15 points. Jacob Cooper, Noah Dunn and Chandler Lindsey all finished with over 10 points against the Cougars.
This marks the eighth time this season that Lander has led for 30 or more minutes against an opponent.
Lander and Columbus State were neck-and-neck for the first three and a half minutes before Lindsey hit a 3-pointer to establish a 7-6 lead with 16:12 in the first half. The Bearcats would see points from Sheffield, Dominic Stanford and Ajang Aguek to build a 13-9 edge with 13:27.
A Cougar layup later in the half would swing the game back to the host squad with a 14-13 lead but a layup from Noah Dunn shortly after with 10:05 put Lander back in the driver's seat.
With the game tied at 15-15, Lander would ride a 14-3 run that saw points from Jaylon Pugh, Dunn, Navaughn Maise and Tommy Moore to go up 29-18 with 4:26 left in the first half. Dunn scored seven points during that scoring streak.
The Bearcats would hold off the Cougars who found their scoring touch late in the half to hold onto a 10-point lead to go into the half.
The Bearcats shot 45.45 percent from the field and 25 percent from 3-point range in the first half. Columbus State shot 30.77 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range in the first half.
Lindsey and Stanford converted on back-to-back layups to give Lander an early 14-point lead before the Cougars made two straight layups to counter. Cooper would hit a layup and a 3-pointer to push Lander ahead 49-30 with 15:13 to give the Bearcats their largest lead of the contest.
Columbus State would continue to scrap, but the closest the Cougars would get to the Bearcats was seven points with 5:04 in the second before Sherfield would hit a jumper and Cooper a 3-point shot to reestablish a double-digit lead.
Lander would finish the game shooting 28-of-59 from the floor, 10-of-30 from 3-point range and 8-of-12 from the free-throw line. Columbus State finished the game shooting 18-of-53 from the floor, 8-of-23 from 3-point range and 15-of-26 from the free-throw line.
The Bearcats stay on the road as it travels to Southern Wesleyan on December 19 for its next contest.
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