GREENWOOD – The Lander Bearcats broke open a close game with a 16-2 run early in the second half and held off Claflin University 60-52 in a non-conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
Lander improved to 5-4 while the Panthers fell to 3-5.
Michael Griffin led the Bearcats with 15 points while Jarred Jackson added 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Griffin also had a game-high five steals.
Ernest Sinkfield led Claflin with 15 points, Phillip Brown scored 14, and Jerome Starr added 11 points and a game-high six assists.
Claflin took its last lead of the game at 31-29 with 17 minutes left on a basket by Starr. Lander scored 16 of the game's next 18 points over the next five minutes to take a 45-33 lead with 12 minutes to go. Emanuel Hodrea started the run with a three-point play, Jason Davis drove the length of the court for a lay-up, then Griffin scored a basket, hit a 3-pointer, and dunked off a steal. Curtis Milner and Jackson scored to complete the run.
Davis added a highlight reel reverse lay-up to make it 50-38 with 7:23 to go, matching Lander's biggest lead of the game.
Scottie Smith's two free throws kept the Bearcats on top by 10, 57-47, with 1:40 to go. Claflin pulled within five, 57-52, with 1:16 to go when Starr hit a 3-pointer. But Lander ran precious time off the clock and Jackson made two free throws with 39 seconds left to extend the Bearcat lead.
Both teams were sloppy in the first five-plus minutes of the game with each team making only a 3-point basket and combining for seven turnovers. Dane Sparrow broke a 3-all tie with two free throws at the 14:19 mark. There were seven lead changes after that with neither team up by more than three points the rest of the half. Darius Johnson's put-back with seven seconds left sent the game into halftime tied at 25.
Lander was shooting over 50 percent from the field at one point late in the game and wound up 21 of 44 (48 percent). The Bearcats made 13 of 15 free throws (87 percent) after hitting 21 of 22 in their previous game. Lander made five of 18 from 3-point range (28 percent).
Claflin hit 20 of 50 shots from the field (40 percent), six of 12 from the line (50 percent), and six of 15 from behind the arc (40 percent).
The Bearcats out-rebounded Claflin 33-25 but committed 20 turnovers. The Panthers had 16 turnovers.
