Greenwood, SC - In a battle against the University of Florida for the NECC Marvel Rivals East Conference Championship, the Bearcats swept the Gators 4-0 to be crowned champions.

The Best-of-7 series was a masterclass by Lander, showcasing their strength and resilience on all four maps. Starting with map one, Lander found themselves down early, losing the first point on Domination map Birnin T'challa before clawing back to claim the next two points of the map to take a 1-0 series lead into Symbiotic Surface.

Following a Map 1 MVP performance from Titus Campbell, Lander would defend on Convergence where they would find success from the Freshman once again, claiming Map 2 MVP honors to take a 2-0 series lead. 

Map 3 was lead by several Lander players on signature characters, such as Kyle Gheen on Spiderman causing chaos in the Florida backline and Michael Kukucka on Magneto disrupting the rejuvenated Gator attack. Florida was able to get within 3.01 meters of capturing the second point on Spider Islands before the Lander defense came in clutch with a brilliant last-second stand to claim the point. Sophomore Conner Gliba was Map 3's MVP.

With the series on the line, Florida selected Hell's Heaven as Map 4, which would be the final nail in the coffin for them as the Lander Strategist lineup of Chad Burger and Andre Gonzalez combined for over 25,000 healing and only two deaths in a 5:22 stomp. Lander took early control of both points and never gave possession back for the remainder of the series.

The victory earned the Marvel Rivals team a conference championship in their first semester as a team within Lander Esports, cementing their place in the trophy case and at NECC Nationals in April 2026, clinching an automatic bid.