GREENWOOD – J.T. Greene led Lander with 16 points Saturday. But it was his long pass to Jahi Rawlings that turned out to be one of the most important plays of the game as the Bearcats held off a furious Livingstone rally, 69-67, in non-conference action at Horne Arena.

The Bearcats head into the Christmas holidays with a win, improving to 2-6. Livingstone is now 4-4.

Livingstone's Santos Martinez led all scorers with 27 points, including four late 3-pointers that helped the Blue Bears rally from a 16-point deficit with 3:57 left to a one-possession game in the final minute.

Martinez's final 3-pointer with 48 seconds left pulled Livingstone within 63-61 and Rashad Smith's two free throws cut it to 65-63 with 22 seconds to go.

Lander had trouble in-bounding the ball against Livingstone's full-court press, resulting in some late turnovers. Greene heaved a long-pass over the defense down-court to Rawlings, who was fouled near the basket. Rawlings hit both free throws with 19 seconds left to give the Bearcats some breathing room at 67-63.

Smith scored inside with 10 seconds to go to make it 67-65. Lander's Michael Griffin hit two free throws with nine seconds left for a 69-65 lead. Livingstone's Brent Cowles hit two free throws with 0.2 seconds left for the final margin.

In addition to Greene's 16 points, Emanuel Hodrea added 14 for the Bearcats. Terrence Jones scored 14 points for Livingstone.

Lander had a large lead through most of the second half. Hodrea's back-door pass to Greene for a layup gave the Bearcats a 49-39 lead with 7:40 left, and Derek Brooks converted a three-point play to make it 54-41 at 6:30. Greene scored Lander's next two baskets to give the hosts their biggest lead of 16 points.

The Bearcats matched that lead on Jarred Jackson's 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 61-45 with 3:57 to go. But Martinez hit four 3-pointers to spark a 16-2 run for Livingstone.

Greene gave Lander the lead for good at 9-6 with a 3-pointer with 16:30 left in the first half, starting a 9-0 run. Livingstone hung close, trailing 22-17, before Hodrea converted a three-point play and Rawlings hit a long 3-pointer for a 28-17 Bearcats lead.

Lander stretched its lead to 33-19 at halftime when Hodrea completed a 4-for-4 shooting half hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left. He led the Bearcats with 10 first-half points.

For the game, Lander made 21-of-51 shots from the floor (41 percent), 22-of-27 free throws (82 percent), and 5-of-15 from 3-point range (33 percent). The Bears hit 25-of-51 shots (49 percent), 12-of-17 free throws (71 percent), and 5-of-16 from behind the arc (31 percent). The Bearcats had a 31-28 rebounding edge and had 18 turnovers to Livingstone's 17.