GREENWOOD – In a back-and-forth game that featured 14 ties and 10 lead changes, the visiting UVA Wise Cavaliers pulled away late for a 77-63 win over the Lander men's basketball team at
Finis Horne Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Lander is now 8-3 overall and still 3-1 in the Peach Belt Conference after being dealt the non-conference loss. UVA Wise improved to 10-3 and is 3-2 in the South Atlantic Conference.
Freshman
Bobby Crawford Jr. was one of three Bearcats in double-figures with 12 points. In addition to leading the team in scoring, Crawford pulled down the most rebounds (eight).
Fellow freshman
Jacob Daniels had 10 points and three assists, and
Jake Tringone was perfect from the floor (5 for 5) as he finished with 10 points and four rebounds.
It was hard to buy a bucket in the first half on either side of the floor – Lander was 10 of 28 (35.7%) over the first 20 minutes while UVA Wise was 11 of 26 (42.3%).
The Bearcats in part kept pace with the Cavaliers because of their efficiency at the free-throw line with nine makes in 10 tries during the opening half.
The teams went into halftime knotted up at 32.
UVA Wise began the second half on a 9-2 run to grab a 41-34 lead less than three minutes in.
LU responded with an 8-0 burst of its own to reclaim a 42-41 advantage with 14 minutes to play. Daniels scored the last six points of the run with a 3-pointer on one possession that he followed with a successful and-one conversion on the next to breathe new life into the Bearcats.
Antewan Webber Jr. made 1 of 2 free throws with 9:17 left to even it up at 50. Crawford later blocked a layup and was rewarded for running the floor in transition as he scored on the fastbreak with 6:30 to go, tying the game at 57.
The Cavaliers, though, outpaced the Bearcats 20-6 down the stretch to get the win.
LU's defense kept UVA Wise in check for the majority of the game: It forced them into 20 turnovers while stealing the ball 12 times which tied the season-high (USC Beaufort on Dec. 6). The Bearcats converted those mistakes into 21 points.
Lander will have a break over the Christmas holiday before returning to action in the New Year on Jan. 3. That game, scheduled for 3:30 p.m., will be contested inside
Finis Horne Arena against PBC rival USCA.
