MORROW, GA. – After a slow start in the first half, the Lander men's basketball team scored 41 points against the Clayton State Lakers in the second half to secure a 76-63 final score Saturday afternoon on the road.
Lander moves to 11-4 overall and 3-2 in the PBC while Clayton State drops to 2-12 overall and 0-4 in the PBC.
Jared Sherfield scored his second consecutive 20+-point game with 20 points coming against the Lakers. Dominic Stanford dropped in 12 points and collected 11 rebounds for a double-double. Chandler Lindsey and Navaughn Maise also joined the double-figure scoring party.
The Bearcats would be first to strike after a Tommy Moore layup fell for the contest's first points at the 19:25 mark. It wouldn't be until 17:09 that the Lakers scored their first points.
The two sides would continue to battle with the Lakers going out in front 12-9 before Navaughn Maise made back-to-back layups to give Lander a 13-12 advantage with 12:03 left in the first half. Lander would increase its lead with a 3-pointer from Jared Sherfield to go up 16-12 with 11:31 left.
Lander would see its lead stretch to six off a layup from Chandler Lindsey to give the Bearcats a 30-24 edge, but the Lakers would dominate the remainder of the half. In the final four minutes, Clayton State would put together a 12-5 run that featured a last-second layup to take a 36-35 lead into halftime.
Lander shot 15-of-30 from the field in the first half along with going 2-of-8 from 3-point range and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. Clayton State went 14-of-36 from the field in the first half along with 6-of-14 from 3-point range and 2-of-3 from the free throw line.
The Bearcats would strike first to begin the second half with a layup coming from Lindsey to retake the lead. Sherfield would sink a pair of baskets to increase the lead to 42-36 with 18:22 left before Ajang Aguek converted a layup to keep the points rolling.
Clayton State would get back within three on a five-point run, but Sherfield would hit back-to-back free throws to get lander in front by five with 14:53 left in the second half.
Lander would go up by 11 after Lindsey made a layup and Stanford made a layup of his own to give the Blue and Gold a 52-41 edge with 11:56 left.
A 3-pointer from Sebastian Augustave off a pass from Maise pushed Lander's lead to 17 with 8:14 to make it a 64-47 contest. Maise would help push Lander's lead even further to 21 with a layup at 5:42 to make it a 70-49 contest.
The Lakers would finish the second half strong with a 14-6 run but would be unable to overcome the lead Lander had built in the second frame.
Lander shot 32-of-58 from the field for the game while shooting 5-of-17 from 3-point range and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Clayton State went 24-of-65 from the field for the game while shooting 10-of-25 from 3-point range and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.
Lander and Clayton State will meet once again this coming Monday, with the Bearcats and Lakers set to battle at Horne Arena at 3:30 pm.
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