Wingate, N.C.----The Lander University Bearcats held on for a hard-fought 79-72 victory at Wingate University NCAA Division II men's basketball action Wednesday night in Cuddy Arena. The Bearcats improve to 5-1 overall, while the Bulldogs fall to 4-2 on the season.

KEY STATS

- Lander shot 42 percent from the field, going nine-for-24 from three-point range (38 percent)
- Wingate shot 43 percent from the field, going seven-for-18 from deep (39 percent)
- The Bearcats held a 41-34 rebounding advantage and 9-1 edge in second-chance points
- The Bulldogs scored 11 points off 12 Lander turnovers
- The teams combined to take 58 free throws; LU was 20-for-31 while WU went 19-for-27

KEY BULLDOGS

- Donell Nixon had 18 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals
- Kendall Taylor added 15 points, seven boards, two assists and a steal
- Josh Massey had 11 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and a block
- Vontrez Roberts contributed 11 points, three rebounds and a block
- Sean Elmore had eight points, three assists, three boards and a steal

FIRST HALF

- A Torrin Andrews three gave Lander an 11-5 lead five minutes in
- A Nixon jumper and two Nixon free throws pulled Wingate to within five at 16-11 with 8:40 to go
- A steal and a layup from Nixon pulled the Bulldogs within three a minute later
- Inady Legiste's bucket at the 6:45 mark put the Bearcats on top 22-15
- Three Corbin Pack free throws and a Massey triple cut the lead to one with 5:48 remaining
- Nixon's three tied it at 26
- Nigel Colvin answered with a triple, while two Dominic Stanford free throws put Lander on top by five
- An Aaron Hall dunk cut the lead to one with 1:58 to go
- The Bearcats scored the last eight points of the half, taking a 40-31 lead on a Tommy Moore layup in the final seconds

SECOND HALF

- A Colvin triple gave Lander a 46-35 advantage three minutes into the second half
- Nixon answered with a triple to pull Wingate back within eight
- An Elmore triple and Hall free throw made it a three-point game at 48-45 with 13:24 left
- Taylor knocked down a three with 12 minutes remaining to make it a two-point game
- Nixon's triple tied it at 52
- Moore made two free throws with nine minutes left to put Lander on top by four
- A Taylor Bell three-point play tied it at 56 with eight minutes to go
- Roberts knocked down a jumper to put the 'Dogs on top 58-56
- Noah Dunn answered with a three to put Lander back on top
- A three and a dunk from Stanford stretched the lead to six for Lander with 3:23 to go
- A Nixon free throw and two Taylor free throws cut the lead in half at the 2:44 mark
- A Dunn jumper extended the lead back to six with under two minutes to go
- Massey's layup with 41 seconds cut the lead back to five at 75-70
- The Bulldogs would get no closer the rest of the way

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action Saturday, traveling to Bluefield State for a 2 p.m. start
- The Bulldogs return home Dec. 10 to host LMU at 4 p.m.