AUGUSTA, Ga.- The Lander men's basketball team is making its second consecutive appearance in the PBC Semifinals after defeating Young Harris 80-67 in the PBC Quarterfinals at the George A. Christenbery Fieldhouse Thursday afternoon.
Lander advances to 21-8 overall while Young Harris drops to 19-10 overall.
Jacob Cooper led the Bearcats with 19 points against the Mountain Lions while also adding six assists and two steals.
Jared Sherfield was close behind with 18 points while also adding four rebounds and three assists. Ajang Aguek and Jaylon Pugh also hit double figures in scoring.
Lander would begin the first half on a hot start as the Bearcats took an 8-2 lead to begin.
Jared Sherfield scored the game's first basket with a 3-pointer with 19:17 left. Sherfield would score again, this time hitting a jump to give Lander a 5-2 lead with 18:27.
Jaylon Pugh's 3-pointer got Lander to its 8-2 lead with 17:27 left in the first half.
The Mountain Lions would start to get in motion as a layup and jumper fell before Sherfield made a layup with 15:40 left to put Lander in front 12-6.
Young Harris would get within four points with 13:18 before Sherfield dropped a layup to give Lander a 16-10 edge.
Ajang Aguek would make a pair of layups as Lander would take a 26-18 lead with 8:57 left in the first half.
Young Harris would stay committed in the first half, as the Mountain Lions got the game to 28-24 with a layup with 4:04 left in the first half.
A Young Harris dunk got the Mountain Lions to a one-possession game with 3:38 left in the first half.
Sherfield would hit a 3-pointer to give Lander a five-point cushion and a 31-26 lead with 3:05 in the first half.
Lander and Young Harris traded baskets as the score moved to 33-28 and would stay that way as the two teams headed to the locker rooms at the half.
Lander shot 12-of-24 from the field in the first half along with 5-of-12 from 3-point range and 4-of-7 from the free-throw line. Young Harris went 13-of-30 from the field in the first half along with 2-of-10 from 3-point range and no attempts from the free throw line.
Young Harris scored five straight points to begin the second half to get within one point of Lander before Pugh drained a 3-pointer with 18:19 left to put Lander in front by four.
Young Harris would counter with a 3-pointer of its own to get back within one point of Lander with 17:39 left.
After Jacob Cooper hit a jumper, Lander would build up a nine-point lead with Aguek controlling the paint with a pair of layups to put Lander ahead 46-37 with 13:55 remaining in the game.
The Bearcats would take a 10-point lead when Aguek would make a layup and Connor McKay hit a jumper in the pain to make it 53-43 Lander with 11:43 left in the second half.
Young Harris hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to eight before Sherfield hit a 3-pointer with 11:05.
Cooper made a pair of layups to extend the Bearcats' lead to 58-45 with 10:07 remaining.
After Young Harris made a run, Pugh hit a 3-pointer to put Lander in front 65-51 with 7:21 remaining.
The Bearcats would take a 16-point lead with 4:55 left after Cooper hit a pair of free throws.
Aguek would slam home a dunk with 1:23 while Cooper would drain a late 3-pointer as the Bearcats scored their final points.
Young Harris made a pair of last-second baskets that brought the deficit to 13 points when the final buzzer sounded.
Lander shot 30-of-51 from the field for the game along with 10-of-21 from 3-point range and 10-of-15 from the free-throw line. Young Harris went 28-of-58 from the field for the game along with 6-of-20 from 3-point range and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
Lander will battle the No. 1 seed USC Aiken Pacers on Friday, February 3 at 5 pm in Augusta, Ga.
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