GREENWOOD – The Lander Bearcats were outscored 20-8 over the final eight minutes and saw their six-game winning streak end with a 76-72 loss to North Georgia Saturday afternoon.
The Homecoming defeat at Horne Arena dropped Lander's record to 15-5 overall and 10-3 in the Peach Belt Conference. The Bearcats began the day in first place in the PBC.
The Nighthawks improved to 14-6, 8-6 in the Peach Belt.
USC Beaufort began the day 10-3 in the conference but took over first place with a victory over Middle Georgia Saturday, dropping LU a half-game back.
Terry Leonard Jr. and
Greyson Pritzl paced Lander with 15 points apiece.
Jacob Daniels added 14 points while leading the Bearcats with five assists.
Jake Tringone added nine points for Lander on four of five shooting from the floor.
Bobby Crawford Jr. added eight points while leading the Bearcats with eight rebounds.
AJ White had a big afternoon for North Georgia, leading all scorers with 24 points. He made 12 of 12 from the free-throw line including two clutch shots with three seconds left after the Blue and Gold had three chances to tie or take the lead in the final 47 seconds.
The Bearcats twice missed front ends of one-and-ones down the stretch and air balled a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with four seconds to go.
"They scored 51 (points) on our head in the second half. Can't win basketball games like that," Lander head coach
Omar Wattad said. "Every loose ball was theirs. It is what it is. They (North Georgia) did a good job.
"We have to re-calibrate and be ready to go Wednesday for Augusta," he added.
There were three ties and seven lead changes in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Lander's first two buckets were dunks by Crawford off passes from Leonard and Daniels.
The Bearcats scored 11 unanswered points to turn a 17-15 deficit into a 26-15 lead. Tringone made a 3-pointer from the right corner, Daniels hit two free throws and then turned a spin move into a layup,
Dylan Canoville dunked off a backwards lob pass from Pritzl, and Daniels found Tringone open for a transition layup.
Leonard swished a 3-pointer from the left side and added a long jumper from the top of the key, extending Lander's lead to 33-24 inside three minutes to go.
Leonard closed the first half by driving the baseline for a layup, giving the Blue and Gold a 35-25 halftime advantage.
Canoville dunked off an alley-oop pass from
Antewan Webber Jr. and then passed to an open
Navaughn Maise for a 3-pointer from the left corner as Lander led 58-49 with 10:47 left.
Pritzl made a 3-pointer to extend the Bearcat advantage to 64-56 with 7:57 to go. Crawford's dunk made it 66-60 with 5:55 left, but North Georgia was already cutting its deficit.
Colin Turner's put-back pulled the Nighthawks within 66-64 with 5:03 to go and Zack Hawkinson's dunk cut it to 68-66 with 4:08 left. Jameel Rideout's free throws tied it at 68-all with 3:37 to go.
Rideout made two more free throws as North Georgia took its first lead since it was 17-15, making it 70-68 with 3:14 left.
Lander bounced back, tying it at 70 and 72 on baskets in the paint by Leonard and Tringone.
Turner's dunk put the Nighthawks back on top, 74-72, with 1:27 left. After a Bearcats turnover, Rideout's 3-point attempt rimmed out with 47 seconds to go.
Lander twice missed front ends of one-and-ones with a chance to tie, with 43 seconds left and again with 18 seconds to go.
But two seconds later, Hawkinson missed two free throws and the Bearcats got the rebound with another chance to tie or even take the lead.
Lander got a good look at the basket with four seconds to go, but air balled a 3-point attempt.
Already 10 for 10 from the line, White made two more free throws with three seconds left to clinch the North Georgia victory.
