GREENWOOD – Jordan Lear scored 30 points as Tusculum built a 16-point second-half lead, then held off a furious Lander rally, 74-69, Saturday afternoon during the second day of the Bearcat Classic at Horne Arena.

Jarred Jackson's 3-pointer pulled the Bearcats (0-2) within 39-38 early in the second half. But Tusculum (2-0) used a 23-8 run to build its largest lead of the game at 62-46 with 6:14 to go.

Lander pushed the Pioneers until the end with Jason Davis hitting an off-balance 3-pointer with 20.9 seconds left to close the gap to 71-67. With the possession arrow in Lander's favor, Michael Griffin and a teammate caused a tie-up and a Pioneers turnover. Jackson drove in for a layup with 10.6 seconds to go to pull the Bearcats within 71-69.

Matt Farus hit two free throws with 9.5 seconds left for a 73-69 Tusculum lead. Michael Griffin's 3-point attempt from the left corner bounced off the rim, and the Pioneers' Tyler White added a free throw for the final margin.

Lear made 11-of-16 shots from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line to lead Tusculum. Douglas Tshomba and Serge Poppe added 11 points apiece for the Pioneers while Chris Poore had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Jackson made 9-of-18 shots from the floor and led the Bearcats with 23 points. Zoran Jelenic added 16 points. Jackson and Jelenic had six rebounds apiece as Tusculum outboarded the Bearcats 41-28.

There were five ties and six lead changes in the first half as the teams went into the locker room knotted at 33-all. Lear had a basket and 3-pointer to highlight an 8-0 run that gave Tusculum a 31-28 lead with 2:54 left in the half. Jelenic's long 3-pointer tied it at 31 at the 2:09 mark. Lear had 18 points in the first half.

For the game, Lander made 27-of-65 shots from the floor (42 percent), 5-of-10 from the free-throw line (50 percent), and 10-of-30 from 3-point range (33 percent). Tusculum hit 26-of-50 from the floor (52 percent), 16-of-20 from the line (80 percent), and 6-of-16 from behind the arc (38 percent).