GREENWOOD – Jarred Jackson hit seven 3-pointers and scored 28 points, leading the Lander Bearcats to a 74-66 Homecoming victory over Augusta State in Peach Belt Conference action Saturday at Horne Arena.
Lander improved to 7-17 overall and 4-13 in the Peach Belt. The Jaguars fell to 13-11 overall and 9-8 in the conference.
In addition to Jackson's 28 points, Michael Griffin added 13 points and Emanuel Hodrea 12. Jackson, who hit 7-of-9 shots from behind the arc, was even the game's top rebounder with nine.
Dean Brebner, Jason Mills, Matt Scott and Tyrekus Bowman led Augusta State with 12 points apiece. Karim Telfer added eight points and six assists, while Brebner had a team-high seven rebounds.
Jackson hit four 3-pointers in the second half, the last coming with five seconds left on the shot clock when he drained a trey to push the Bearcat lead to 67-56 with 5:12 to go. Augusta State would score the game's next five points to pull within 67-61. But Griffin's driving lay-up extended Lander's advantage to 69-61 at the 2:27 mark.
The Bearcats put the game away in the final minute on a blocked shot by Scottie Smith, three free throws by Griffin and two by Jackson.
Lander led by as many as 16 points in the second half on Jackson's back-to-back 3s to make it 56-40 with 13:30 to go, and Hodrea's put-back for a 58-42 lead with 12:18 left.
Lander hit six 3-pointers in the first nine minutes of the game including three by Jackson and one apiece by Hodrea, Griffin and J.T. Greene to build a 25-14 lead. Hodrea added two free throws to extend Lander's largest lead of the half to 13, 27-14, with 9:44 left.
The Jaguars responded with a 17-5 run to pull within 32-31 at the 4:09 mark, including seven points by Scott and two baskets by Bowman. Smith's three-point play and a Jahi Rawlings free throw extended the Bearcat lead to 40-34 at halftime.
For the game, Lander made 24-of-50 shots from the floor (48 percent), 15-of-23 free throws (65 percent), and 11-of-20 from 3-point range (55 percent). Augusta State hit 20-of-49 shots from the field (41 percent), 17-of-28 free throws (61 percent), and 9-of-23 from behind the arc (39 percent). The Bearcats held a 36-34 edge on the boards.
