MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The Lander men's basketball team played the role of spoiler for Georgia College, as the No. 6 seeded Bearcats took down the No. 3 seeded Bobcats 83-79 on the road in the PBC quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Lander moves to 14-14 overall while Georgia College drops 21-7 overall with the loss.
Tommy Moore led the Bearcats in scoring with 19 points. He went 3-of-4 from 3-point range along with 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. DaJuan Moorer, Nigel Colvin and Jared Sherfield joined Moore in double-figure scoring.
Lander shot 57.4 percent from the field for the game while shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc against the Bobcats.
Lander started strong against the Bobcats, as the Bearcats took a 41-27 lead into the half. Lander shot 64.0 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from 3-point range. Georgia College shot 32.3 percent from the floor and 23.1 percent from 3-point range.
The Bearcats would score the game's first points when DeShundre Rucker converted a layup with 18:37 left to make it a 2-0 contest. The two sides would battle until a jumper from Rucker made it 7-4 with 15:50 left in the first half. Rucker would finish with seven points in the first frame for the Blue and Gold.
It wouldn't be until a Moorer jumper with 7:58 that Lander would start to make strides. Up 22-19 after the Moorer jump shot, a 3-pointer from Moore would push Lander ahead 25-21 with 6:53 left. Back-to-back layups from Moorer gave Lander a 29-23 edge with 5:13 remaining while Colvin and Moore would combine for the next five point to help Lander's lead grow to 34-25. Lander would have its lead grow to 14 points twice in the last two minutes, as a 3-pointer from Moore made it a 39-25 contest with 1:33 left and a last-second jumper from Colvin restored the lead to 14, putting Lander up 41-27 at the half.
Moore led all scorers at the half with 10 points with a 2-for-2 performance from deep and a 2-of-3 performance from the free-throw line.
The second half would see Georgia College turn on the jets, as the Bobcats made things very interesting for the Bearcats.
Although seeing Lander up its advantage to 18 points off a layup from Moore to make it a then 64-46 game with 10:50 in the second, The Bobcats would battle back to within two points of Lander with nine seconds remaining.
With the win Tuesday night, Lander has defeated Georgia College on the road for the first time since February 25, 2015 when the Bearcats won 83-65. Lander would hold strong and come away with the 83-79 victory.
Coach Omar Wattad also earned his first postseason victory as the head coach of the Bearcats.
The Bearcats will play in the PBC Tournament semifinals on March 4 in Augusta, Ga.
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