Tolbert, Pirates Power Past Bearcats On Senior Day, 81-67

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Junior Dwight Tolbert stole the show on Senior Day for the Armstrong Atlantic State men's basketball squad, scoring a career-high 29 points as the Pirates downed visiting Lander, 71-64, on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena.

The win clinched the No. 3 seed for the Pirates (22-5, 15-5 PBC) in the upcoming Peach Belt Conference tournament, the third year out of the last four in which AASU has finished among the top three seeds in the league tourney. Lander (11-15, 7-13 PBC) dropped its fourth straight contest.

The Pirates shook off a sluggish start to close the first half strong, ending on a 10-2 run to take a 32-21 lead into intermission. AASU stretched that advantage to 14, 44-30, on a Brian Moultrie basket with 15:02 left, but Lander would not go away, hitting six of its first seven three-pointers of the half, culminating in a Kevin Kelley trey that cut the lead to just one, 56-55, with 8:30 left.

A time out by head coach Jeff Burkhamer then stemmed the tide as Keron McKenzie nailed a three-pointer a minute later, and AASU stretched the lead back out to nine on a fastbreak dunk by T.T. Hall, 66-57, with 5:23 left and the Pirates would never look back.

On a day when the Pirates said goodbye to five seniors playing in their final home games as Pirates, it was the junior Tolbert who provided most of the highlights, hitting 7-of-15 shots from the floor and a stellar 13-of-13 from the free throw line en route to a career-high 29 points, to go with 10 rebounds, three steals, three assists and a pair of blocked shots. His free throw performance was just one off of the school record in a single game, 14-of-14, set by David Rich (1969) and David Koncul (2000).

Senior Brian Moultrie added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, while Keron McKenzie came off the bench with 10 points. 

The Bearcats were led by Greg Smalls' 14 points and 12 points off the bench each from Houston Wright and Darius Johnson.

AASU will be in action in the PBC Championships on Friday, March 6, in Aiken, S.C., at 5:00 p.m. against Francis Marion.