PEMBROKE, N.C. – Staving off a second-half comeback attempt by host UNC Pembroke, the Lander men's basketball team came away with an 80-74 win Sunday afternoon at the English E. Jones Center for their second victory in three days.
Lander moved to 2-0 while UNCP dropped to 0-2. The all-time matchup record between the two programs is now 31-31.
Jacob Daniels paced the Bearcats with 18 points, and
Greyson Pritzl and
Terry Leonard Jr. each added 16.
Dylan Canoville produced a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The game started off slowly with the score reading 9-8 Lander six minutes into the first half. The Blue and Gold then outscored the Braves 19-4 over the next eight minutes to jump out to a 28-12 lead with six minutes left before halftime.
Four players scored during the stretch, led by Leonard and
Antewan Webber Jr. with six points apiece. Canoville had four and
Navaughn Maise swished a 3.
The Bearcats led 36-24 at the break.
Canoville's pair of free throws made it 45-34 four minutes into the second half before UNCP began its push – they outscored Lander 18-2 during a four-minute stretch and gained a 52-47 lead with 11:12 to play.
Daniels nailed a 3 with eight minutes to go and tied the game again at 58.
Pritzl's makes at the charity stripe with 6:15 left gave the Bearcats a 62-61 lead – a lead they never lost from that point on.
Daniels and Leonard combined on an 8-0 run to push the advantage to 71-62 with 3:43 left.
Though UNCP narrowed the gap to 75-72 with 57 seconds to go, Pritzl nailed a dagger trey on the following possession to put the game out of reach.
Lander shot an even 50% from the floor for the game (25/50) and made nine 3s.
Defensively, they held the Braves to 39.7% shooting (23/58) and only 8 of 27 from downtown (29.6%). The Bearcats also blocked 10 shots, led by Leonard and Canoville who each had three.
Lander is back at
Finis Horne Arena on Saturday, Nov. 22 for a matchup versus Carson-Newman. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
