GREENWOOD – The No. 17 Lander Bearcats trailed most of the game but rallied past Peach Belt Conference rival Georgia College and State University 74-66 Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.
Lander used a 14-0 second-half run to take the lead for good, improving to 14-2 overall and 6-0 in the Peach Belt. It was the seventh consecutive victory for the Bearcats, who are 10-0 at home this season.
The Bobcats fell to 9-9, 0-6 in the PBC despite making 12 of their first 14 shots from 3-point territory (86 percent).
Jacob Cooper led the Lander rally, scoring 14 points in the second half and making all three of his assists during the team's comeback. Cooper finished with a team-high 21 points.
Inady Legiste added 13 points for the Bearcats while leading the team with three steals and three blocked shots.
Noah Dunn scored 10 points for Lander while Ajang Aguek fell one point shy of a double-double. Aguek paced the Bearcats with 10 rebounds, nine on the defensive end.
Austin Sloan led Georgia College with 21 points, making seven of 10 shots from the floor including five of seven from behind the arc. Brendan Rigsbee added 13 points for the Bobcats.
After Torrin Andrews opened the game for Lander with a 3-pointer from the right corner, the Bobcats scored 12 unanswered points for a 12-3 lead. They made four of four shots including two treys by Oscar Lynch.
Rigsbee's pull-up jumper from the free-throw line gave Georgia College a 24-12 lead with 10:22 left in the first half.
The Bearcats finally came alive from behind the arc as Nigel Colvin made two 3-pointers while Dunn and Tommy Moore hit one apiece pulling them within 29-24 with 7:07 left.
Legiste swished two free throws to pull Lander into a 30-all tie with 5:16 to go.
The Bearcats knotted the game at 32-apiece when Dominic Stanford rebounded Legiste's missed 3-point attempt and dunked it. Stanford's two free throws gave Lander a 34-32 lead with 3:25 left.
Lynch's third trey of the half gave the Bobcats a 38-35 lead at the intermission. The visitors made eight of 10 from behind the arc in the first half.
Legiste's 3-pointer pulled the Bearcats within 41-40 with 16:40 left. But Sloan made two 3-poiners in a row and Ian Davis added another as Georgia College was now 12-for-14 from behind the arc for a 50-42 advantage.
Cooper found Aguek open under the basket two possessions in a row for a layup and a dunk and then kept the ball for himself and swished a 3-pointer, pulling the Blue and Gold within 50-49 with 11:58 left.
Sloan stayed hot for the Bobcats, making four shots in a row as the visitors led 59-54 with 8:25 to go.
Cooper hit a 3-pointer and then drove toward the basket and made a floater pulling Lander into a 59-all tie with 7:05 left. That was the start of a 14-0 run.
Cooper then made an athletic grab of an offensive rebound and flipped an off-balance pass to Aguek in the right corner for a 3-pointer, giving the Bearcats a 62-59 at the six-minute mark.
Dunn made a jump shot from behind the free throw line, Cooper drove the length of the floor for a layup, and Legiste made a reverse layup off a nice entry pass from Moore for a 68-59 Lander advantage with 3:31 left.
Cooper's two free throws pushed the Bearcat lead to 70-61 with 2:40 to go. Dunn added a basket and Cooper a pair of free throws to clinch the victory.
