GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Lander Men's Rugby team started their spring sevens season on Saturday at the Furman 7s Invitational in Greenville, S.C. The Bearcats would drop their first three matches before topping The Citadel to close out the day.
The Bearcats finished runners-up in last year's 7s National Championship against Indiana University of Pennsylvania, but they had a last-place finish in last year's Furman 7's Invitational to start their season.
Lander started the day off with a defeat to eventual tournament champion Clemson. The match was even at the half, but a couple of lapses on defense allowed Clemson to take control match in the second half to come away with the win.
The second match was against Southern Rugby Conference rival, Belmont Abbey. The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead and maintained control for most of the match until the waning minutes. Unfortunately, the Blue and Gold could not hold the lead against a furious Crusader comeback as Belmont Abbey would win.
The third match was against a much-improved University of Georgia. The match stayed close throughout the first half, but once again, mistakes and second-half errors resulted in a loss.
The last match had Lander up against The Citadel. This match was a much more complete match for the Bearcats and Lander was able to secure their third win over The Citadel in the 2022-23 season.
Coach Billings had this to say after the match, "despite the outcome, I'm proud of the men. "We did a lot of good things and showed a lot of our potential for this Spring. We had a lot of new starters at various positions and the mistakes we made were very fixable. Our players showed a lot of resilience and while we didn't pick up where we left off last Spring, we are starting in a better place than we did last year!"
According to Billings, "this team can have a high ceiling, we are excited to get back to work and see what we can accomplish."
The man of the tournament for Lander was freshman
Carey Cortes with five tries and stellar defensive play on the day.
