The PBC Men's Basketball Tournament began with an exciting opening round which included an upset and three dominant victories. The #1, #2 and #3 seeds remain untouched as Lander, Columbus State and North Georgia cruise into the semifinals. #5 Flagler caused the lone upset of the evening, knocking off #5 USC Beaufort in the opening round. #1 Lander will host all four teams in Greenwood for the semifinals on Saturday, March 7th. The hosts will open play at 1:00pm as they face #5 seed Flagler. #2 Columbus State and #3 North Georgia are set to tip off at 3:30pm.
#1 Lander 91-81 #8 USCA
Daniels, Maise Spark Top Seed Bearcats in Hard-Fought PBC Quarterfinal Win Over USCA
GREENWOOD – The 25th-ranked Lander Bearcats made 14 of their final 15 shots from the floor, pulling away from USCA 91-81 in a Peach Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinal game that featured 22 lead changes Wednesday night at Horne Arena. Top-seeded Lander advanced thanks to huge double-double games from
Jacob Daniels and
Navaughn Maise.
The Bearcats improved to 23-5 and advanced to the PBC Tournament semifinals to be played Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. versus Flagler at Horne Arena. The finals will be Sunday, also at Horne. Flagler beat USC Beaufort in another quarterfinal game Wednesday. The pesky Pacers ended their season at 13-16.
Peach Belt Freshman of the Year Daniels led Lander with 23 points and 10 assists while also grabbing six rebounds and three steals. Daniels led a late charge, scoring eight points and dishing out three assists during a game-changing 14-2 run that led the Bearcats from a narrow deficit to a double-digit lead in front of a raucous crowd.
Maise added 20 points for Lander while pacing the team with 10 rebounds.
Greyson Pritzl added 11 points for the Bearcats, hitting three 3-pointers during a back-and-forth first half. Freshman TJ Jackson had a huge game for USCA, pouring in a game-high 27 points. Caleb Byrd had a big first half for the Pacers and finished with 20 points. Mccaskill Rivers and Jonah Lawrence added 15 and 14 points respectively.
"That was different. They were unbelievable," Lander head coach
Omar Wattad said of the fans which included the Bearcats baseball, men's lacrosse and wrestling teams. "I really, really appreciate them. That got us going." "We took a heck of a shot from Aiken," Wattad said. "They have some really tough players. They lost a lot of close games this year and they game in guns blazing, locked in, not wanting their season to end." Wattad added, "I'm proud of the guys. We were much better in the second half. He (Daniels) and Maise put us on our backs. Tommy (Moore) came in and was huge when we were struggling offensively. In the second half, we guarded so much better. They (Aiken) shot the lights out in the first half. They got every loose ball. In the second half, we were much more engaged on the ball (defensively) and did a lot better job contesting (shots)."
The first half was action-packed with 10 ties and six lead changes. The largest lead of the opening half came at the 10:43 mark when Jackson's 3-pointer gave USCA a 25-20 advantage.
Dylan Canoville's layup with four minutes left gave Lander a 41-40 lead, its first advantage since it was 13-12. Pritzl's step-back 3-pointer from the left side gave the Bearcats a 47-44 lead with 22 seconds to go. But, fittingly, USCA would send the game into halftime tied at 47-all on three Jackson free throws. Maise had a big first half for Lander with 14 points. But the Bearcats were only 11 for 20 from the free-throw line in the opening half. A fast-break lay-in by Daniels gave Lander its first lead of the second half at 51-50 with 17:47 left. The Pacers went back ahead 54-51 on baskets in the paint by Lawrence and Byrd.
The Bearcats began heating up, getting a dunk from Canoville, a fast-break layup and 3-pointer by Moore, and a driving layup and a nice assist from
Antewan Webber Jr. as the home team went back on top 62-61 with 12:22 to go. After USCA went back on top for the game's 16th lead change, Daniels made a layup and Moore hit a 3-pointer from the right corner as Lander matched its largest lead of the game at 67-63. Another Jackson 3-pointer gave the Pacers a 73-72 lead with 8:28 to go. After Daniels put LU back on top, Jackson made two technical free throws and the visitors were up 76-75 with six-plus minutes to go.
Bobby Crawford Jr.'s dunk off a pass from Daniels was the game's 22nd lead change, putting the Blue and Gold back on top 79-78 with 5:15 left. The Bearcats would not trail again. Daniels drove the baseline and dropped one high off the glass, giving Lander its largest lead of the game at six points, 84-78, at the four-minute mark. The lead continued to grow from there. Daniels added two free throws and got another assist to Maise as the Bearcats took a double-digit lead at 88-78 with 1:46 to go. They also kept USCA from scoring for more than four minutes to put the game away.
#2 Columbus State 63-44 Georgia Southwestern
Cougars Lock Down Hurricanes in 63–44 PBC Tournament Win?
COLUMBUS — The Columbus State University Men's Basketball team advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Semifinals with a dominant defensive performance Wednesday evening, defeating Georgia Southwestern State University, 63-44, in the quarterfinal round inside the Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center.
With the victory, Columbus State improves to 22-7 overall and moves one step closer to the Peach Belt Conference championship.
Columbus State controlled the contest from the outset and never relinquished the lead, using a balanced scoring attack and strong rebounding presence to dictate the pace. The Cougars out-rebounded Georgia Southwestern 49-43, held the Hurricanes to 27.3 percent shooting (18-of-66) from the field and just 3-of-34 (8.8 percent) from beyond the arc, while turning defensive stops into offense with 19 fast-break points, 13 points off turnovers, and a 38-28 advantage in the paint.
Pascal Volz led Columbus State with 12 points, connecting on 5-of-11 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range.
Marlon Smith contributed a strong all-around performance with 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, anchoring the Cougars on the glass.
Jordan Mitchell added nine points and nine rebounds, while
Lee Langstaff II also finished with nine points. Off the bench,
Aaron Smith provided a spark with eight points and five rebounds, helping Columbus State produce 18 bench points.
The Cougars established control early, building a halftime advantage behind steady defensive pressure and efficient free-throw shooting. Columbus State shot 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) in the opening half but converted all six free-throw attempts, taking a 27-20 lead into the break. In the second half, Columbus State found greater offensive rhythm, shooting 42.9 percent (15-of-35) from the floor while continuing to disrupt the Hurricanes' offense. The Hurricanes managed just 31.3 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes. They were limited to one three-pointer in the half as the Cougars gradually extended the margin to secure the 19-point victory.
The win advances Columbus State to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Semifinals, as the Cougars will travel to Greenwood, S.C., on Saturday, March 7, to face the University of North Georgia, with tip-off scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
#3 North Georgia 77-60 #7 GCSU
Fast Start Fuels Nighthawks to 77-60 Win Over Georgia College in PBC Tournament Quarterfinals
DAHLONEGA – A strong start from the No. 3 seed University of North Georgia (UNG) men's basketball team lead the Nighthawks up to a 77-60 win over sixth-seed Georgia College in the opening round of the 2026 Peach Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
The Nighthawks set the tone from the opening tip, starting the game on a 12-2 run, highlighted by seven points from AJ White.
On the other end of the floor, the Nighthawks played some of their best defense of the season, holding the Bobcats to just eight points on 2-11 (18%) shooting from the floor in the first 10 minutes. North Georgia kept its foot on the gas, extending the lead to as many as 15 after a layup in transition from White with 4:54 remaining in the first half. The Bobcats were able to put together a handful of trips to the free throw line to chip away at UNG's lead, but the Nighthawks still maintained a 35-25 heading into halftime.
Chase Champion wasted no time getting to work in the second half, opening the period with a pair of layups to extend North Georgia's advantage to 12. Zack Hawkinson and Colin Turner kept the momentum in North Georgia's favor, stringing together nine points, capped off by a three from Hawkinson to maintain a double-digit lead. For the final 10 minutes, the Nighthawks kept the Bobcats out of striking distance, never relinquishing more than a nine-point lead for the remainder of the game.
North Georgia capped off the night with a 10-2 run and a balanced offensive attack from Jameel Rideout, Turner and White. The Nighthawks flashed their defensive prowess once again, preventing Georgia College from scoring for the final three and a half minutes of the game. The Nighthawks (21-6, 14-6 PBC) received double-digit scoring contributions from White, Hawkinson, Turner and Rideout in the win. White led the charge with 28 points, four threes and a perfect 10-10 performance from the free-throw line. Champion also played a big role, scoring six points and grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds. The Bobcats (16-13, 11-9 PBC) were led by Khalil Green with 16 points.
North Georgia has now won 10 in a row heading into the second round of the PBC Tournament. The Nighthawks will take on the No. 2 seed Columbus State in the semifinals at Finis Horne Arena in Greenwood, S.C., home of the top seed Lander. Tipoff is scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 7 at a time that will be announced by the league at a later date.
#4 USC Beaufort 70-83 #5 Flagler
Flagler knocks off USCB to advance in the PBC Tournament
BLUFFTON, S.C. – Hoku Fisher and Rahdir Hicks each scored 15 points to lead Flagler College to an 83-70 win over the University of South Carolina Beaufort in a Peach Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game Wednesday night at the Sand Shark Recreation Center.
Flagler, the No. 5 seed, won its third game in a row to improve to 18-11 overall. The Saints lost to the Sand Sharks twice during the regular season by a combined four points. Flagler will take on the No. 1 seed, Lander University, in a semifinal game at Greenwood, South Carolina this Saturday at 1 p.m. USC Beaufort, the No. 4 seed, lost its second game in a row and finished the year with a 19-10 record.
The Saints put the game away early using a 17-5 spurt. A Boom Reeves dunk gave Flagler the lead for good, 8-6, just three minutes into the game. Aidan Harris capped the run with a pair of layups to give the Saints a 21-11 lead. Flagler led by as many as 13 in the first half before settling on a 40-32 halftime lead. Flagler extended its lead to as many as 18 in the second half. Mason Manning added 12 points and six rebounds for the Saints. Melvin Teal tacked on 11 more. Harris finished with nine points and a season-high 10 rebounds.
Nolan Paladugu scored a game-high 21 points for the Sand Sharks, before fouling out. Hudson Norton came off the bench to provide 11 points. Evan Kilminster, who averaged 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in the two previous meetings in the regular season, was limited to six points and two rebounds. USC Beaufort averaged 47.7 percent shooting from the field going into the game. They were held to 37 percent shooting (20-54) tonight.