GREENWOOD – Terry Leonard Jr. scored 17 points while
Greyson Pritzl made four crucial 3-pointers in the second half as the Lander Bearcats opened their 2025-26 season with a hard-fought 69-68 victory over Catawba Friday night at Horne Arena.
Pritzl finished with 15 points for the Bearcats.
Jacob Daniels scored 11 points and added four steals for Lander while
Dylan Canoville added 10 points and four steals.
Jake Tringone was a big play-maker for the Bearcats, leading the way with nine assists while also scoring seven points.
Antewan Webber Jr. paced the Blue and Gold with eight rebounds while
Bobby Crawford Jr. posted two of Lander's four blocked shots.
Justin Banks paced the Indians with 21 points while Nick Walker added 18 points for the visitors.
"It took a lot of grit. That's what we have to do against Catawba," Bearcats head coach
Omar Wattad said. "They (Catawba) roll out of the bed and get 15 offensive rebounds. They wake up, brush their teeth, put socks and shoes on, underwear, pants and shirt and get 15 offensive rebounds. Our goal was to give up 18 or less."
Lander was out-rebounded 37-32 including 14 offensive rebounds for Catawba.
"I wish we would have taken care of the ball a little more (19 turnovers)," Wattad added. "I'm happy with the 17 assists. It was a gritty win. We have some tough guys. We are a very deep team."
Wattad added, "Catawba played at George Mason on Tuesday. Catawba was the more athletic team. That (George Mason) is an Atlantic 10 team that was in the Atlantic 10 championship (game) last year... I'm not upset with the glass (rebounding), not even a little bit."
Daniels and Canoville got Lander off to a fast start, going a combined 6-for-6 from the floor in the first eight minutes. Daniels was 4-for-4 with four successful scoring drives into the paint and added two steals as the hosts led 18-11.
Crawford electrified the LU crowd taking an alley-oop pass from Leonard and dunking, and then Tringone nailed a 3-pointer as the Bearcats had their first double-digit lead at 23-13 with 10:18 left.
Solomon Tucker made a pair of free throws to cut Catawba's deficit to 27-22 with 5:53 left. But Lander responded with a 7-0 run to lead 34-22. Daniels and Webber both made layups off Tringone back-door passes from the top of the key while Leonard added a 3-pointer.
Jordan Simpson's driving layup off a steal pulled the Indians within 34-30 with 1:03 to go. But Leonard drained a 3-pointer and Tringone added two free throws to help the Blue and Gold lead 39-33 at halftime.
Catawba cut its deficit to 40-38 early in the second half. The Bearcats increased their lead back to eight, 46-38, on treys by Pritzl and Leonard.
The Indians stormed back, taking their first lead of the game at 49-48 with 12:52 left on a Banks basket in the paint.
Pritzl got hot at the right time for Lander. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers, giving the Blue and Gold a 54-49 lead. Pritzl swished a step-back trey making it 59-49 with 8:47 left.
Tringone made a couple more successful back-door passes to Leonard and Webber as the Bearcats led 65-57 with 6:43 to go.
Banks and Carson Daniel made 3-pointers, putting Catawba back on top 66-65 at the four-minute mark. But Lander moved back ahead on Leonard's mid-range floater, taking the lead for good at 67-66 with 3:33 left.
Leonard scored on a breakaway layup to extend the Bearcats lead to 69-66. But Zion McDuffie's steal and dunk pulled Catawba back within one point with 2:25 to go.
Both teams had three scoreless possessions down the stretch, including Daniels having a shot blocked with 23 seconds left giving Catawba one more opportunity.
But Carson Daniel missed a 3-pointer with eight seconds to go and after a long battle for the loose ball, Lander gained possession with 1.5 seconds left. Tringone threw a long inbounds pass to Webber to run out the clock.
