GREENWOOD – Armstrong Atlantic State went scoreless from the floor for almost 14 minutes of the second half Wednesday night and still won.

In a statistically odd game, the Pirates defeated Lander 55-45 in Peach Belt Conference men's action at Horne Arena. Armstrong had 10 blocked shots and held the Bearcats to 25 percent shooting from the floor.

With the victory, the Pirates improved to 19-5 overall and 13-4 in the Peach Belt. Lander fell to 6-17, 3-13.

Bryan Taylor led Armstrong with 17 points and five blocked shots, Alex Carter scored 13 points, and Tory Harris scored 10 points.

The Bearcats didn't have a single player over five points until 6:58 was left in the game when J.T. Greene hit a 3-pointer to give him six points. He finished with a team-high nine points.

Jamaal Galloway hit a 3-pointer with 15:30 left in the game to give the Pirates a seemingly safe 45-25 lead. But Armstrong didn't get another field goal until 1:40 was left when Taylor made a lay-up for a 53-42 lead. During that almost 14-minute stretch, the Pirates made only six free throws and missed all five of their shots from the floor. Armstrong committed several turnovers during that stretch.

But Lander did not take advantage of Armstrong's slump, getting no closer than eight points. Jahi Rawlings hit a 3-pointer with 5:30 left to cap a 15-3 run over a 10-minute stretch. The Bearcats couldn't make much headway due in part to blocked shots.

Zoran Jelenic scored with 2:33 left to pull Lander within 50-42, and Greene hit his third 3-pointer of the game to make it 53-45 with 28 seconds left. But Taylor scored on a dunk with five seconds left and scored nine of Armstrong's 10 points over the last 15:30 of the game.

Armstrong closed the first half on a 13-1 run over the last 6:45, taking a 34-22 halftime lead. Jason Davis had a steal and lay-up, then hit a 3-pointer to pull the Bearcats within 17-15. Lander's Rawlings scored back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 21. But the Bearcats had only one free throw the rest of the half.

Harris swished back-to-back 3-pointers to break the 21-all tie and give the Pirates a 27-21 lead, and Carter added two baskets to extend Armstrong's advantage into double figures before the break.

For the game, Lander made 16-of-63 shots from the floor (25 percent), 6-of-8 free throws (75 percent), and 7-of-21 from 3-point range (33 percent). The Pirates made 19-of-40 shots from the floor (48 percent), 11-of-14 free throws (79 percent), and 6-of-12 from behind the arc (50 percent). Lander had a 36-32 rebounding edge.