GREENWOOD – Despite shooting 70 percent from inside the arc, the Lander Bearcats had a cold shooting night from 3-point range and lost to Peach Belt Conference rival USC Beaufort 81-78 Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
Lander fell to 8-5 overall, 2-1 in the Peach Belt. The Sand Sharks are 10-3, 2-1 PBC.
The Bearcats made 26 of 37 shots from inside the arc but made only four of 18 from 3-point range. Their first made 3-pointer came midway through the second half. Lander was averaging 11.4 treys per contest.
The Bearcats had five double-figure scorers led by
Greyson Pritzl with 16 points,
Inady Legiste with 14 points on seven of eight shooting, and
Noah Dunn also with 14 points.
Caleb Williams added a Lander career high of 12 points while
Torrin Andrews contributed 11 points while leading Lander with five assists.
Kenney Gains had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead USC Beaufort, which has matched last season's win total.
Hudson Norton scored 14 points, Dominic Eason 13, Dylan Lewis 11 and Devaughn Price 10 for the visitors.
The Bearcats came out hot making their first four shots, all in the paint. Williams scored twice while Legiste and Pritzl each added a layup for an 8-2 lead.
But Lander cooled off. USC Beaufort used a 13-2 run to build a 15-10 lead with 11:46 left in the opening half.
The Bearcats were 1-for-10 from the floor during one stretch and were stuck with just 16 points inside the six-minute mark. But
Tim Steele made a floater in the lane and Andrews converted a fast-break layup through contact to pull Lander within 21-20 with 5:14 to go.
Legiste swished a hook shot, pulling the Blue and Gold into a 24-all tie with 3:51 left.
The Sand Sharks led 31-28 at the break, having made five 3-pointers in the first half to none for Lander (0-for-6).
Legiste scored three times in the paint while Williams added a layup as the Bearcats grabbed a 36-33 lead early in the second half. But USC Beaufort scored the next seven points for a 40-36 advantage.
Price's three-point play gave the Sand Sharks a 50-44 lead with 10:42 left.
After missing its first 11 shots from behind the arc, Dunn finally ended the drought with a trey from the top of the key pulling Lander within 50-47 with 10:06 to go.
USC Beaufort built its largest lead of the game at 58-49 with 8:38 left on a Tasso Sfanos 3-pointer. But Steele and Pritzl both made treys while Williams and Dunn scored in the paint as the Bearcats were within 60-59 with 6:20 left.
Dunn converted a three-point play and nailed a 3-pointer from the right side as he pulled Lander within a point twice at 65-64 and again at 68-67 with 3:38 to go.
Pritzl's two free throws cut the Bearcat deficit to 73-71 with 2:27 left. But USC Beaufort answered yet again as Kyle Polce and Gains scored on back-to-back possessions for a 77-71 lead with 1:20 to go.
After Pritzl made a driving layup, the Sand Sharks took several seconds off the clock before Andrews collected a steal. Pritzl was fouled on a layup attempt and made two free throws as Lander was within 77-75 with 31 seconds left.
USC Beaufort beat the full-court press and Gains was fouled with 19 seconds left, making both shots from the stripe for a 79-75 advantage.
Andrews scored with six seconds left to pull Lander within 81-78. But the Sand Sharks avoided any fouls and ran out the clock.
