AMERICUS - The Georgia Southwestern men's basketball team could not overcome an eight-point halftime deficit and saw the 2015 calendar year come to a close with a 77-70 loss to Lander University on Saturday afternoon in the Storm Dome.

GSW fell to 5-4 overall, 1-1 in the Peach Belt Conference, while Lander won its fifth straight game and improved to 9-2, 3-0 in conference play.

Hurricane shooters were efficient over the opening 20 minutes, connecting on 7 of 14 attempts from long range (50 percent) and 13 of 23 shots overall (56.5 percent). However, that accuracy only helped GSW build a modest lead of six points, 19-13, midway through the half.

Lander chipped away at the deficit and on a Tobiasz Hose layup with 7:07 remaining before the break, the Bearcats had regained the lead, 27-26. The visitors would not trail the rest of the game. 

Lander led by eight at halftime, 42-34.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Damien Leonard pulled GSW within six points with 16:40 left. The Hurricanes cut the margin to six on six different occasions over the final 20 minutes, but that's as close as they could get. The final time was after a pair of Brandon Price free throws with 1:59 remaining as GSW trailed 74-68.

While GSW finished with eight more 3-pointers than Lander (12-4), the Bearcats held a substantial edge in free throws (21-6). The Bearcats controlled the glass as well, outrebounding GSW, 44-28. The Hurricanes dished out eight more assists, 18-10.

Adam Thoseby scored 16 of this game-high 23 points in the second half to lead GSW. Thoseby made 9 of 15 field goal attempts, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc, and pulled down seven rebounds. Price chipped in 15 points and dished out eight assists. Leonard sank 5 of 11 from 3-point range and joined Price with 15 points.

Hose knocked down 8 of 11 shots coming off the bench for Lander and matched Thoseby with a game-high 23 points. J.R. Washington and Rahu Purdie added 13 points apiece. 

The Hurricanes break for the holidays and return to the hardwood on Jan. 2 at Montevallo.