AMERICUS, Ga. – Returning to the court for the first time in 13 days, the Lander men's basketball team rang in the new year with a narrow 75-73 win over Peach Belt foe Georgia Southwestern on Saturday evening.
The Bearcats pushed their record to 8-4 and 2-0 in PBC play while the Hurricanes fell to 6-6 and 0-2.
Noah Dunn was once again Lander's leading scorer at the Storm Dome as he poured in 24 points – including the final eight of the game. Dunn canned 7 of 9 shots overall, including 3 of 4 makes from long range, and drained all seven of his free throws to go along with five rebounds.
Inady Legiste had 19 points and a monstrous 18 rebounds – a career-high – for his second consecutive double-double.
With the Bearcats trailing 72-67 with 2:38 remaining in the second half, Dunn took control of the game and made a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 72 48 seconds later.
After GSW made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:26 left, Dunn nailed another deep 3 with 17 seconds to go to put Lander up 75-73.
The Hurricanes appeared to push the game to overtime after tipping in a corner trey with one second left, but it was ruled basket interference and effectively sealed it for Lander who just had to inbound the ball from there.
The game was tight throughout with neither team gaining more than a 6-point cushion. Lander did use a 9-0 run late in the opening half to take a 36-32 lead before going into halftime with a 37-34 advantage.
Lander held a 40-37 rebounding edge on the day, and the bench produced 33 points compared to 25 for the Hurricanes.
The Blue and Gold return to Finis Horne Arena this Wednesday, Jan. 8, for more PBC action versus USC Beaufort. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
