SALISBURY, N.C. – Kicking off the 2024-25 campaign with a road date at Catawba on Friday night, the Peach Belt preseason favorite Lander men's basketball team fell 97-96 on a late putback dunk.
Leading the Bearcats with a career night was senior
Dominic Stanford who poured in a career-high 33 points on an impressive 11-of-16 shooting performance (68.8%). Stanford hit 3 3-pointers and added five rebounds and four assists.
Terry Leonard Jr. scored 20 points in his first collegiate game and was red hot from 3-point land, knocking down 6 of 9 attempts while adding four boards.
Joining them in double figures were
Noah Dunn and
Jeremiah Holloway with 11 apiece to give the Bearcats four in double digits. Dunn and graduate newcomer
Tim Steele tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.
The first half was largely a back-and-forth affair as Catawba held a 17-15 lead at the halfway point before growing it slightly to a game-high five-point, 23-18 margin with 8:30 to play in the half.
Lander scored nine of the game's next 11 points to stake themselves to a 27-25 advantage as four players combined on a 9-2 run. The Bearcats grew their lead to 42-34 thanks to 10 points from Stanford over a five-minute stretch before going into halftime up 44-36.
By the first media timeout of the closing half, the Blue and Gold had pushed their advantage to 11 points, 53-42, and grew it even further to a game-high 16 points (65-49) with 14:56 remaining in the season opener.
Holloway scored all 11 of his points over that five-minute run to set the tone. With 10 minutes left in the game, the Bearcats still enjoyed a 74-63 lead, and later, 81-68 following Stanford's third and final 3 with just over seven minutes to go.
Catawba slowly chipped away at its deficit and brought it to within 81-75 with six minutes left. Lander, though, appeared to put the game on ice with a 10-0 spurt between Leonard Jr. and Stanford to make it 91-75 with 3:11 remaining.
The Indians then went on an improbable run, scoring 22 of the final 27 points in the game to earn a home victory, the aforementioned final bucket coming with four seconds on the clock.
Lander returns to Greenwood for its home opener on Sunday afternoon against UNC Pembroke in Finis Horne Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00.
