(Casper, WY) – The Lander Tigers showed plenty of heart Friday morning at Casper College, erasing a deficit in the final stretch of the fourth quarter to knock off Buffalo 58-55 and keep their tournament alive in the consolation bracket.
It wasn’t pretty for most of the night — Lander trailed for the majority of the contest and had to dig deep to find a way back. When they did, it was a group of younger players who sparked the comeback. Brenner Coleman, Caleb Andrews, Garrett Romer, and Afton Cox brought energy off the bench and helped flip the game in Lander’s favor down the stretch, a promising sign for the program’s future.
Stu Mullins celebrates Lander’s win over Buffalo at the buzzer Friday afternoon in Casper. h/t Carl Cote Garrett Romer is fouled as he drives into the paint. h/t Carl Cote Noah St. Clair celebrates Darion Hereford’s and one bucket in the 4th as Lander shrinks Buffalo’s lead. h/t Carl Cote 
Finn McFadden rises up for two in the paint. h/t Carl Cote
Senior Paxon Hollingshead was nothing short of clutch when the Tigers needed him most, catching fire from beyond the arc and going a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range on his way to 14 points and eight rebounds.
Junior Finn McFadden continued his strong tournament, chipping in 12 points to keep the offense humming. Senior Noah St. Clair bounced back in a big way as well, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds, along the way finding some of those foul calls that eluded him in Thursday’s loss to Torrington.
Noah St. Clair gets a hug from Owen St. Clair Jr. as the Tigers defeat Buffalo in the state consolation bracket. h/t Carl Cote Lander fans cheered after a three-pointer gives them their first lead. h/t Carl Cote Paxon Hollingshead takes the ball in for two. h/t Carl Cote Darion Hereford is fouled as he makes a fastbreak layup for the Tigers. h/t Carl Cote
Perhaps the most pivotal contributions came from senior Darian Hereford, who knocked down two huge and-one buckets in the fourth quarter at critical moments, harnessing crowd energy from Lander fans and helping the Tigers to complete their comeback.
The Tigers will look to build on the momentum today at noon back at Casper College, where they’ll face Pinedale in the next round of the consolation bracket.
