Lions Fall to Lander

MARS HILL, N.C.- A late Mars Hill run fell just short as the Lions dropped an 86-76 decision to Lander at Stanford Arena Saturday afternoon.

The Lions were able to cut the score to 74-72 with 3:35 remaining after trailing by as much as 14, but the Bearcats answered with some key plays down the stretch to close out the victory. Lander was paced by Jereal Smith with 28 points, while David Pruett added 26 on 7-of-11 shooting. Mars Hill was led by Daron Guyton with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Lander improved to 2-0 in the season, while the Lions fell to 1-1.

Corey Wright was an efficient distributor for the Bearcats, dishing out 13 assists to go along with his eight points. Darius Carrier and Dermaine Smith added 12 points apiece for Lander. The Bearcats shot 54.4 percent from the field, and connected on 8-of-17 three attempts.

Jalen Witherspoon added 15 points for the Lions. Kacey Holt chipped in with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Mars Hill hit 29-of-63 (46 percent) from the field and 45 percent (9-of-20) from three.

After trailing by as much as 14, the Lions used a 13-5 surge to pull within 74-72 with 3:35 to play. Back-to-back threes by Holt and Kevin Haynes cut the deficit to seven. Another Haynes jumper and a three by Carter Wright cut the score to 72-69. A layup by Guyton cut the deficit to one before a Smith bucket pushed the Bearcat lead back to three. A Khouraichi Thiam free throw cut the score to 74-72 before the Bearcats regained control.

A jumper by Pruett, a lay-in by Darius Carrier and a dunk by Dermaine Smith made the score 80-72 with 1:09 to play. The Lions would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

A 17-4 Lander run helped break open a tight game early in the second half. Smith scored eight points in the run and provided the exclamation point with a huge two-fisted dunk to make the score 63-49 in favor of the Bearcats. Pruett hit a pair of threes and converted the free throw after the second for a four-point play.

The Lions raced out to a 16-12 lead with 13:53 to play in the first half before a 13-2 Lander run gave the Bearcats the lead. Smith had seven points in the run, which was capped by a Pruett three to make the score 25-18 with 10:27 to play.

MHC answered with an 11-4 surge late in the half. A three and old-fashioned three-point play by Guyton, a Holt three and a Witherspoon floater cut the deficit to 37-36. After a pair of Smith free throws, a Haynes three knotted the score at 39 with 1:48 to play in the half. The Bearcats outscored MHC 5-4 the rest of the half to take a 44-43 advantage into the locker room. Lander hit 15-of-28 from the field (53.6 percent) in the half, while MHC connected on 47.1 percent (16-of-34) from the field.