AUGUSTA, Ga. – In search of a rebound performance on the heels of a home loss on Saturday, the Lander men's basketball team delivered with an 85-74 road win over Augusta on Wednesday night in Christenberry Fieldhouse.
It was win No. 16 on the season for the Bearcats compared to just five losses. They reclaimed the top spot in the Peach Belt Conference with the result as USC Beaufort fell to Columbus State by an 80-68 final at home this evening. LU is 11-3 in the PBC, USCB is 11-4.
Freshman
Jacob Daniels provided his usual steady hand with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists in coming off the bench for the first time this season. He made 5 of 6 shots, including one 3-pointer, and sank seven shots at the free-throw line.
Antewan Webber Jr., making his first start this season, put together a 14-point night on 5-of-8 shooting. He added five boards, three assists and a pair of steals.
Also in double-figures for the Bearcats were
Greyson Pritzl, who matched his jersey number with 12 points, and
Bobby Crawford Jr., who did the same with 11.
Dylan Canoville pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
LU jumped out to a 10-0 lead early that was driven largely by a pair of 3s from Pritzl.
AU (9-17, 4-12) began to chip away at the deficit and eventually tied it at 18 shortly after the 10-minute mark.
The Bearcats regained some separation over the next six-minute stretch, making it a 33-27 game when
Navaughn Maise finished off a 3-point play following the under-4:00 media timeout.
Lander led 40-33 after 20 minutes.
The Blue and Gold pushed its lead to a then-game-high 12 when Pritzl hit a pair from the free-throw line to make it 46-34 at the start of the second half.
Augusta got it to 50-45 with 15 minutes remaining but LU withstood the 11-4 surge with consecutive buckets from
Terry Leonard Jr. and Crawford that made it 56-45 a few minutes later.
Perhaps the final nail in the coffin was an ill-advised Jaguars foul of Daniels with one second left on the shot clock from 3-point range; Daniels nailed all of the free throws for a 63-48 lead midway through the half.
The Bearcats later saw their lead grow to 21, 76-55.
LU was intent on getting the ball into the lane throughout much of the night and finished with 36 points in the paint. That number was paired with a new season-high 41 free-throw attempts.
Overall, the Bearcats finished 26 of 42 from the floor (61.9%) and received 42 points from the bench. They held the Jaguars to 41.7% shooting (25 of 60) and a mere 16.7% from 3 (3 of 18).
Lander will be home this Saturday (Feb. 14) for Senior Day in
Finis Horne Arena. Tip is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. versus Flagler.
