GREENWOOD – Jarred Jackson scored a team-high 20 points as the Lander Bearcats pulled away from Southern Wesleyan, 74-57, in a non-conference men's basketball game Saturday night at Horne Arena.
Lander, with its first win of the season, improved to 1-1. The Warriors fell to 1-5.
Jackson made 7 of 12 shots from the floor to pace the Bearcats. Michael Griffin added 16 points and game highs in rebounds with seven and assists with five. Jason Davis added 11 points, including six key points down the stretch. Dane Sparrow led all Lander reserves with eight points.
Darren Wilson led Southern Wesleyan with 21 points. Nick Crowder added 12 points and Lorenzo Earle 10.
Davis, a corporal in the U.S. Marines who served in Iraq prior to the start of his Lander basketball career, was honored before the game with a framed American flag recognizing his service to our country. A Lander flag was flown in Iraq in Davis's honor. Fans were given miniature American flags to honor the troops.
Lander opened the second half with a 7-0 run to build a 38-22 lead with 18 minutes left. But Southern Wesleyan responded with seven unanswered points of its own and would get as close as 51-47 with 8:15 left on Earle's 3-pointer.
But Scottie Smith scored inside, Jackson made two free throws, and Smith got a steal and dunk to expand the lead to 57-47 with 6:11 to go. Davis scored on a back-door layup off a pass from Jackson to push the advantage to 66-50 with 2:15 left.
Wilson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Warriors within 66-56 with 1:10 left. But Griffin took a length-of-the-court pass from Emanuel Hodrea and converted a layup, Davis hit four free throws and Griffin added two for the final margin.
Lander jumped out quickly, building leads of 7-0 and 15-4 before Southern Wesleyan finally made a shot from the floor. After an 0-for-12 start that included two missed dunks, the Warriors got their first field goal with 10:23 left in the first half when Brandon Callihan scored in the paint to make it 15-6.
The Bearcats increased their lead to 22-8 when Jackson converted a rare four-point play. The senior guard hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key as he was falling down as a result of a foul. He converted the free throw, pushing the lead to 14 at the 6:12 mark.
Lander's biggest lead of the first half came when Jackson scored with 3:30 left to make it 28-13. Earle made a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull the Warriors within 31-22 at halftime.
For the game, the Bearcats made 23 of 52 shots from the floor (44 percent), 22 of 34 from the free-throw line (65 percent), and 6 of 22 from behind the 3-point line (27 percent). Southern Wesleyan made 20 of 59 shots from the field (34 percent), 9 of 13 from the stripe (69 percent), and 8 of 24 from behind the arc (33 percent). Lander out-rebounded the Warriors 40-35. Southern Wesleyan committed 19 turnovers to Lander' 14.
