Augusta, Ga. - Lander men's basketball could not overcome a poor shooting night at Augusta and dropped their first Peach Belt Conference game to the Jaguars 75-67 Wednesday night at Christenberry Field House.

The Bearcats shot under 40 percent in the contest and could never close the gap on a hot-shooting Jaguars squad. The loss drops the Bearcats to 14-3 overall and 6-1 in PBC play. The Jaguars move to 9-8 overall and 2-5 in the PBC.

Augusta jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, and the Bearcats missed their first five shots before a Dominic Stanford 3-pointer put Lander on the board with 16:19 to play in the first half. Back-to-back buckets by Jacob Cooper brought the Bearcats to within a point at 12-11 with 11:17 to go, but a shooting spree by the Jags' Demitri Gardner would allow Augusta to pull back away and take a 38-29 lead into the half.

The second half brought more of the same hot shooting from the Jaguars, who shot at a 56 percent clip in the game. Lander had held their opponents to just 37 percent shooting from the field in their previous contests. Gardner led all scorers with 17 points. Noah Dunn led the Bearcats with 15 points, and Phillip Burwell chipped in 10.

Bearcats are back in action at Columbus State on Saturday, January 27. Tip is set for 3:30 p.m.

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