DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Lander's pursuit of its first NCAA Division II Elite Eight since 1999 fell just short Tuesday night when the Bearcats lost to North Georgia 70-67 in the Southeast Regional championship game.
Lander cut a nine-point deficit with under two minutes left down to two points but couldn't complete a miracle comeback at the Convocation Center on the campus of the University of North Georgia.
The Bearcats ended their season at 22-10.
Lander last made the Elite Eight 25 years ago when the team was called the Senators. The Bearcats name change arrived in 2003.
Lander was the sixth seed in the Southeast Regional and beat No. 3 seed Lincoln Memorial Saturday and then topped seventh seed Emmanuel in overtime Sunday before battling North Georgia for the third time this season.
The Nighthawks improved to 28-6, advancing to the Elite Eight to be played next week in Evansville, Indiana.
Lander and North Georgia entered the game tied at 15 wins apiece in the all-time series. The Bearcats won both regular-season games, the first sweep in the history of the series. But the Nighthawks led most of the way Tuesday and held on at the end.
Lander forced three turnovers in the final minute and got within three points on a Nigel Colvin free throw with four seconds left. But his attempt to purposely miss a free throw resulted in the shot taking a misfortunate bounce out of bounds and the Nighthawks were able to run out the clock.
The Bearcats made only nine of 27 shots from behind the 3-point arc and were out-rebounded 39-25.
Phillip Burwell and Dominic Stanford led Lander with 13 points apiece while Inady Legiste added 10 points and seven rebounds before fouling out.
Cayden Charles paced North Georgia with 18 points, Giancarlo Bastianoni and Colin Turner scored 15 points apiece while Frank Champion added 10 points despite playing only 23 minutes due to foul trouble.
Lander built a 10-7 lead over the first seven minutes, highlighted by Stanford's game-opening 3-pointer from the right corner, Colvin's driving layup through traffic, and Connor McKay's dunk off an alley-oop pass from Burwell.
North Georgia went on a 15-2 run to build a double-digit lead, scoring all its points inside. Bastianoni scored four times during the run and Turner's three-point play gave the Nighthawks a 22-12 advantage with 8:10 left in the first half.
The Bearcats clawed back into the game with 3-pointers. Stanford made one trey from the left corner, another from the right wing and Noah Dunn swished one from the same spot as Lander trailed only 26-21 inside the six-minute mark.
Jacob Cooper's floater in the lane got a friendly bounce off the rim, pulling the Bearcats within 26-25 with 3:52 left.
Tommy Moore also made a floater in the lane and Cooper drove around the defense for a layup, giving Lander a 29-28 lead with 2:18 to go.
North Georgia made six of six free throws as it closed the half on an 8-0 run, taking a 36-29 lead at the break.
The Nighthawks out-rebounded Lander 20-10 in the first half and shot 54 percent from the floor (14 of 26) to 36 percent for the Bearcats (10 of 28).
Charles made a mid-range jumper, giving North Georgia a 45-35 lead with 16 minutes left.
Dunn made a pair of 3-pointers, cutting Lander's deficit to 45-42 with 14 minutes to go.
Inady made a spin move on the baseline and drove for a game-tying layup, making it 47-all at the 12-minute mark.
Burwell's 3-pointer from the left wing in front of the Lander bench gave the Bearcats their first lead since it was 10-9, making it 50-48 inside 10 minutes to go.
Champion's hook shot put the Nighthawks back on top 52-50 with 7:21 left. After another Champion basket, Burwell's 3-pointer from the top of the key pulled Lander within 54-53 with 6:05 left.
North Georgia scored the game's next two buckets and held a 58-53 lead under the four-minute mark.
Colvin's driving layup pulled the Bearcats back within a possession at 58-55. But Charles made a 3-pointer, then Champion drew Legiste's fifth foul and made a pair of free throws as the Nighthawks led 63-55 with 2:56 to go.
Torrin Andrews converted a three-point play as Lander cut its deficit to 63-58 with 2:42 left.
But North Georgia extended its lead to 67-58 with 1:40 to go on baskets by Champion and Bastianoni.
Burwell made a 3-pointer, the Nighthawks turned the ball over on a bad pass, and Burwell scored again on a driving layup pulling the Bearcats within 67-63 with 50 seconds to go.
Lander forced another turnover when Burwell intercepted a pass near mid-court. But Burwell missed a 3-pointer and North Georgia answered with one free throw out of two.
Stanford was fouled on an offensive rebound attempt and made both free throws as the Bearcats were within a possession at 68-65 with 17 seconds left.
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Colvin stole the inbounds pass, was fouled and missed the first free throw but made the second as Lander was down only 68-66 with 12 seconds to go.
Bastianoni's two free throws gave the Nighthawks a 70-66 advantage with 10 seconds left.
Colvin was fouled on a 3-point attempt with three seconds left, making the first free throw but missing the second. Attempting to purposely miss the third free throw down 70-67 in hopes of an offensive rebound leading to a 3-point attempt, Colvin's free throw bounced hard off the front of the rim and ricocheted out of bounds.
North Georgia threw a long inbounds pass to Charles who caught the ball and was able to run out the last three seconds untouched.
