AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Lander Bearcats got off to a fast start behind Jaylon Pugh but could not sustain the early momentum and lost to Augusta 86-72 in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship game Sunday afternoon.
Lander settled for a runner-up finish in the tournament played at Christenberry Fieldhouse on the campus of Augusta University.
The Bearcats fell to 22-9 and are hoping for an invitation to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The tournament field will be announced Sunday night.
The top-seeded Jaguars repeated as PBC champions and improved to 26-5.
Fourth-seeded Lander, which beat Young Harris and USC Aiken Thursday and Friday to reach the Peach Belt finals, led 22-4 on Sunday as Pugh made six of six from behind the 3-point arc in the game's first five minutes.
But the Jaguars outscored Lander 34-14 over the final 15 minutes of the first half and dominated the second half en route to the sixth PBC Tournament title in their school history.
Pugh led the Bearcats with 21 points, all in the first half when he made seven of nine shots from 3-point range.
Tommy Moore was Lander's second-leading scorer with 12 points, all in the second half, and led the team with four assists.
Jared Sherfield scored nine of his 11 points in the second half for the Bearcats while sharing team-high honors with Navaughn Maise with seven rebounds. Sherfield and Pugh made the All PBC Tournament team.
Jacob Cooper scored 10 points for Lander, eight in the second half.
The Bearcats played the entire Tournament without three of their leading scorers Dominic Stanford, Noah Dunn and Chandler Lindsey.
Augusta's 7-foot-1 center Tyshaun Crawford scored 31 points, 22 in the second half. He made 11 of 19 shots from the floor including several put-backs and would be named Tournament MVP.
Miguel Arnold scored 16 points for the Jaguars while Tyree Myers and David Viti added 11 points apiece.
Lander committed 16 turnovers to only three for Augusta. The Jaguars had a 36-28 edge on the boards, including 15 offensive rebounds to only three for the Blue and Gold.
The Bearcats came out absolutely on fire behind Pugh's incredible start.
Maise opened the scoring with two free throws, Connor McKay blocked Augusta's first shot attempt of the game, then Pugh swished four 3-pointers in a row on consecutive offensive possessions including one from approximately 40 feet out as the Bearcats led 14-0.
Maise converted a driving layup, giving Lander a 16-0 lead before the Jaguars finally scored with 16:12 to go in the first half.
Pugh responded by making two more 3-pointers again on consecutive possessions and the lead was 22-4 with 15:19 left. Pugh already had 18 of those points on 6-of-6 shooting from behind the arc.
After a 7-for-7 start from the floor, the Bearcats finally missed a shot at the 14:05 mark.
Augusta then began a comeback, pulling within 22-11 on Viti's 3-pointer with 13:24 to go.
Ajang Aguek blocked a Jaguar shot and then was on the receiving end of an entry pass from Nigel Colvin and dunked it, giving Lander a 24-11 advantage with 11:50 left.
But Crawford's three-point play pulled Augusta within 24-18 with 7:49 to go, capping a 14-2 run. Since the lead was 22-4, the Bearcats were 1-for-7 from the floor until Maise made a reverse layup to make it 26-18.
Myers, Viti and Arnold hit 3-pointers as the Jaguars cut their deficit to 28-27 with 5:26 left.
After multiple scoreless trips by both teams, Augusta took its first lead of the game at 30-28 with 3:25 to go on Arnold's trey.
Cooper's driving layup for Lander tied it at 30 with three minutes left.
After Arnold scored twice giving the Jaguars a 34-30 advantage, Pugh drilled his seventh trey of the game to pull the Blue and Gold within one.
This time Pugh got an assist on a 3-pointer as Colvin tied the game at 36 at the one-minute mark. Augusta broke the tie with a pair of free throws and led 38-36 at the break.
Augusta got off to a good start in the second half with Crawford scoring twice to increase its lead to 42-36 while the Bearcats were committing a pair of turnovers.
Lander kept it close as Sherfield made a floater, McKay lofted a shot over Crawford's head for a bucket, and Sherfield banked in a 3-pointer cutting the deficit to 46-43 with 16:34 left.
But that would be as close as it would get.
Crawford's three-point play gave the Jaguars their first double-digit lead at 53-43 with 14:43 to go. Crawford converted another three-point play for a 58-43 advantage with 13:45 left.
Cooper's driving layup ended Augusta's 12-0 scoring run, pulling the Bearcats within 58-45 with just over 13 minutes to go.
Myers made two free throws giving the Jaguars an 18-point lead at 65-47 with 11:09 left.
Lander rallied as Colvin made a layup, Cooper hit a difficult shot in the lane, and Sherfield nailed two free throws cutting the deficit to 65-53 with 9:44 to go.
The Bearcats twice more pulled within 12 on Colvin's 3-pointer and Moore's shot on which Crawford was whistled for goal-tending, making it 70-58 inside seven minutes left.
But Augusta put the game away with a 13-4 run, building its biggest lead at 21 points, 83-62, with 2:20 to go.
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