The Bearcats get a much-needed Southern Rugby Conference win on Saturday over UNC Charlotte 24-21.

It was both a defensive battle and a series of several phases of attack by both teams for the first 14 minutes of play. A lack of discipline led to UNC Charlotte commuting a penalty in the 15th minute and Lander kicked to take the lead 3-0. The PK was kicked by by Joaquin Villegas.

The lead would not last long, as a handling error on the ensuing kickoff led to a 49er try and conversion to make it 7-3 UNC Charlotte.

The Bearcats did not let the score take their momentum. After a few phases, Lander's defense won back the ball and the penalties by UNC Charlotte were adding up. Villegas had a well-placed penalty kick to touch. The home team secured the lineout and kept the ball in their pack until the visitors got repeat offsides penalties resulting in a penalty try on a Blaine Tomas (Greenwood, S.C.) carry. Lander would carry the 10-7 lead into halftime.

In the second half on an attacking scrum the ball would work to freshman William Watts and he evaded would be tacklers to extend the lead, scoring his first try and Villegas converted the kick to make the score 17-7 Bearcats.

The game should be shifting to the Bearcats, but the 49ers answered again in the 55th minute with a converted try to close the scoring gap to make it 17-14 Bearcats.

Once again, the visitors scored in 61st minute to retake the lead with a converted try to give the visitors a 21-17 lead.

With 19 minutes left in the match, the home team had enough time to move the ball down the field into the visitor's territory and scored another penalty try. A lack of discipline and repeat offenses allowed Tristan Armes (Greenwood, S.C.) to draw a penalty near the posts, giving the Bearcats a 24-21 lead. The lead would last the closing 10 minutes giving Lander the victory.

Coach Billings had this to say afterwards. "I was really proud of our men today, it was a physical match and UNC Charlotte had a good team, but our men kept their composure and earned the victory. Our forwards continued to play well as they have all season, and our backs might've had our best match of the season. We had two men getting their first starts today, Jacob Gregory & Jacob Dawkins, both really stepped up and played well. Also, we had a good match from Brad McCaslan at 9 & Villegas at 10. We needed that win to stay in the mix with our conference."

With one loss in the 1-AA division of the SRC, Lander can still compete for top spot in the conference. They travel to UNC Chapel Hill for a match under the lights this Friday, kickoff is at 7:00 PM in Chapel Hill.