DAHLONEGA, Ga. – In the 34th all-time meeting between Lander and Peach Belt Conference rival North Georgia, the Bearcats men's basketball team picked up a wire-to-wire 70-63 win over the No. 6 Nighthawks inside the UNG Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon.
The latest edition of the series, now evened up at 17 wins apiece for each program, saw the Blue and Gold play stifling defense paired with a balanced offensive attack and major contributions from the bench.
Lander (8-2, 3-1 PBC) handed North Georgia (8-1, 2-1 PBC) its first loss and held them to 40.3% shooting (25 of 62) and just one make from 3-point range (1 of 14).
The Bearcats had four players reach double-figures, led by
Antewan Webber Jr.'s 13 points.
Jacob Daniels had 11 points, seven assists and four steals, and
Navaughn Maise added 11 points while tying for the team-lead with five rebounds.
Tommy Moore tacked on 11 points of his own in his second appearance this season – part of LU's 34 bench points compared to just six for UNG.
The Bearcats opened up a 15-6 lead seven minutes into the game thanks to an early 7-0 run with buckets by
Dylan Canoville, Webber and
Jake Tringone. Tringone had eight points and five boards in a steady effort.
UNG later trimmed the deficit to two, 15-13, after a 7-0 run of its own with eight minutes left in the first half before Lander responded with five quick points to go up 20-13 a minute later.
Greyson Pritzl's 3 at the four-minute mark gave Lander its first double-digit lead of the day, 28-17. Maise caused a late Nighthawks turnover that led to Webber's fastbreak layup before the first half horn as the Bearcats took a 34-21 lead into the locker room.
Daniels' lay-in with 13:30 left in the game put LU ahead by 12 (41-29). The proverbial game of runs, though, provided a sudden Nighthawks outburst that cut the Bearcat lead down to 43-39 only two minutes later.
Webber authored a strong answer in short order in the form of a trey and lay-up on successive possessions to restore a 48-39 margin with 11 minutes on the clock.
The Blue and Gold kept the hosts at bay the rest of the way and never let them get closer than six points as they polished off a hearty, ranked road win.
Lander's defense forced UNG into 12 turnovers that were converted into 19 points, and they found a great deal of success in the paint, scoring 38 points down low.
The Bearcats will stay on the road this upcoming Thursday (Dec. 18) when they travel to Spartanburg for a non-conference tilt with Converse. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
