MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. - The Bearcats rode a strong first-half performance and battled tough against the Georgia College Bobcats to earn its fifth straight win Wednesday evening.
Lander moves to 15-4 overall and 7-2 in the PBC while Georgia College drops to 6-12 overall and 2-7 in the PBC.
Lander was led in scoring by Noah Dunn's 18 points while Ajang Aguek, Chandler Lindsey and Jared Sherfield also hit double figures in scoring.
The first half saw plenty of scoring from both sides with a combined 70 points coming in the first frame.
It would be the Bobcats who'd jump out to an early 8-2 lead with Ajang Aguek making a layup for the first two points of the game for the Bearcats. Chandler Lindsey would hit a three with 15:00 minutes left to get within three points of Georgia College before a jumper from the Bobcats extended the host's lead to 10-5.
Another three from Lindsey with 14:07 left and a layup from Aguek tied the game at 10 with 13:38. Lander would take its first lead of the game off a free throw from Aguek before Lindsey converted a layup to give Lander a 13-10 edge with 12:49 left in the first half.
Georgia College would get within one point of the Bearcats, as a 3-pointer with 11:51 made it a 16-15 contest. Noah Dunn would drill a 3-pointer of his own to put Lander in front by four with 10:41. The two sides would trade baskets with the Bobcats getting within one point of the Bearcats numerous times.
Lander was finally able to gain separation from the Bobcats with back-to-back 3-pointers from Tommy Moore and Jared Sherfield to go up 31-24 with 4:00 left in the first half. A 3-pointer from Jaylon Pugh push the Bearcats up by 10 with 3:05 to give Lander a 34-24 edge.
Aguek would hit a lat layup after grabbing an offensive board to put Lander up 40-30 at the half.
Lander shot 14-of-30 from the field in the first half while going 9-of-24 from 3-point range and 3-of-5 from the free-throw line. Georgia College went 12-of-29 from the field while going 5-of-13 from 3-point range and 1-of-2 from the free throw line.
Aguek would be the one to start the scoring in the second half, as he hit a 3-pointer with 19:35 remaining. Lindsey would be close behind him with a layup to give Lander a 45-30 lead with 18:50 left.
Sherfield would keep the Lander lead growing as he added a free throw and a 3-pointer to give the Bearcats a 49-31 edge.
The Bearcats would see its lead expand to 21 as Aguek hit another 3-pointer with 15:37 to put Lander up 52-31.
The Bobcats would get hot, as the home side chipped away to get the lead down to 11 with 10:39 before Dunn hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Lander up 60-43 with 10:01 left.
Georgia College would once again get the lead down to 11, this time with 5:29 left, but Sherfield and Lindsey would connect on a layup to give Lander a 15-point advantage with 4:37. Sherfield would hit another layup with 1:20 left to make it a 69-52 game before the Bobcats would finish the contest with two free throws.
Lander shot 25-of-64 from the field while going 15-of-43 from 3-point range and 4-of-7 from the free-throw line. Georgia College went 21-of-59 from the field while going 8-of-26 from 3-point range and 4-of-8 from the free throw line.
The Bearcats return to Horne Arena on January 28 as they host the Flagler Saints for a 3:30 pm start.
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