NEW ORLEANS, La.- When Lander's men were crowned the Southern Rugby Conference Sevens Champions they punched their ticket to the national championship, the Collegiate Rugby Championship in New Orleans, LA. Due to this year's strength in the Southern Rugby Conference, of the 16-team tournament, two other SRC member teams received at-large bids, The Citadel & UNC Wilmington.

The tournament started with a matchup against perennial power University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. The Bearcats jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first half with tries by Cameron Smith and Tomas Mussi; Mussi was 1-2 on his conversion kicks. The second half started with the boys in blue extending their lead to 19-0 with a try by Austin Johnson and a Mussi conversion. Whitewater tried to mount a comeback with two tries late, but it wasn't enough. Lander won 19-12!

The second match was against a very physical University of Scranton team. The match started very favorably with a kick intercept and try by Eric Burkett and Mussi conversion, followed by Laureano Petris try and the Bearcats were up 12-0 at the half. The second half was much like the first, the Bearcats had a Mussi try with his own conversion and a Johnson unconverted try. Bearcats toppled the Royals 24-0.

The third match placed the Bearcats against the top-seeded Norwich University. Neither team could get much momentum on attack and then the Cadets put back-to-back, unconverted, tries together and took the 0-10 lead into the half. The score stayed 0-10 for the first five minutes of the half and Lander made it 7-10 with a long line break try and conversion from Mussi. Unfortunately, the Cadets shut down the comeback with two quick tries to close out the match 7-22.

WIth the Bearcats finishing 2nd in pool play they would still advance to the quarterfinals against Georgetown University. In addition to Lander's advancement, The Citadel and UNC Wilmington also advanced.

The NOLA heat was in full force when the match started against the Hoyas. Lander was able to get on the scoreboard quickly and followed up with another try to give themselves a 14-0 lead at the half off of Johnson and Smith tries and Mussi conversions. The second half saw GU get on the board and start a comeback, but the Bearcats defense was able to stall their attack. Hayden Bulwinkle sealed the victory with a try after the buzzer and the Bearcats will advance to the final four on the 19-5 victory.

Lander will face SRC rival, The Citadel on Monday at 9:00 am. The match will be live-streamed on The Rugby Network and the winner will face the winner of University of Northern Iowa and Indiana University of Pennsylvania at 1:40 pm, it will also be live-streamed on The Rugby Network. Lander was victorious against The Citadel in their last matchup at the SRC Championship, but The Citadel are 2-1 on the season against the Bearcats.