GREENWOOD – Phillip Burwell and Inady Legiste scored 15 and 14 points respectively in their Horne Arena debuts as the Lander Bearcats defeated Newberry College 88-67 Sunday afternoon.
The Bearcats won their home opener, improving to 1-1 on the season. The Wolves lost their season opener.
Lander shot 60 percent from the floor, making 33 of 55 shots. Newberry made 41 percent of its shots, 28 of 68.
Burwell, transfer from Peach Belt Conference rival Georgia Southwestern, paced Lander with 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Burwell hit six of nine shots from the floor.
Tusculum College transfer Legiste added 14 points on six-of-eight shooting.
Noah Dunn scored 12 points for the Bearcats while Tommy Moore added 10 points on perfect shooting, making three of three from both the floor and free-throw line.
Nigel Colvin made four of four shots from the floor and finished with nine points for Lander. Connor McKay and Dominic Stanford also scored nine points for the Bearcats.
Jalen Johnson paced Newberry with 14 points while Malik Joseph added 12 points.
Lander scored eight unanswered points, taking a 10-4 lead with 16:18 left in the opening half. McKay made two free throws and then Burwell found Torrin Andrews open in the left corner for 3-pointers on consecutive possessions.
Ajang Aguek scored a pair of baskets inside while Colvin made a layup off a nice entry pass from Jeremiah Holloway as the Bearcats led 22-14 with 7:45 to go.
Legiste gave Lander its first double-digit lead, swishing a 3-pointer from the top of the key making it 25-14 with 6:30 left.
Moore stole an inbounds pass coming out of a Wolves timeout, converting a three-point play after a layup for a 28-16 advantage inside the five-minute mark.
Burwell had a steal and driving layup, blocked a shot, and hit a 3-pointer giving the Bearcats a 35-23 lead with 1:36 to go.
Lander led 35-26 at halftime.
After Joseph's 3-pointer pulled Newberry within 42-31, the Bearcats scored 15 unanswered points to take control of the game.
Lander was 5-for-5 from the floor during the run as Colvin, Legiste and Dunn each made 3-pointers. Burwell contributed two baskets and a pair of free throws making it 57-31 inside the 15-minute mark.
The Wolves did fight back as Johnson knocked down a pair of 3s during a 13-2 run that pulled the visitors within 59-44 with 12 minutes to go.
The Bearcat lead grew back beyond the 20-point mark again as Dunn's driving layup made it 68-47 midway through the second half.
Stanford rebounded Dunn's missed shot with authority, dunking the ball home for a 72-52 lead with 8:16 left.
Stanford dunked again off a Burwell alley-oop pass, giving the Bearcats a 76-52 advantage with seven minutes to go.
McKay's driving layup resulted in a three-point play as Lander led 81-55 with 4:20 left.
McKay added a put-back while Moore made two free throws and a 3-pointer to complete the scoring.
