GREENWOOD – The Lander Bearcats hit 12 of 13 free throws in the second half and maintained their lead in the Peach Belt Conference's North Division with a 62-54 victory over UNC Pembroke Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
Lander improved to 13-7 overall and stayed atop the division with a 7-2 PBC mark. The Braves fell to 5-16, 4-6. The Bearcats swept the season series, winning 56-39 at Pembroke, N.C., on Jan. 17.
Guards Jarred Jackson and Michael Griffin led Lander with 17 and 12 points, respectively, and each went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Zach Evans and Jason Davis came up big in a first-half rally and finished with 10 and 8 points, respectively. Jackson had a game-high nine rebounds and Curtis Milner added three blocked shots.
The Bearcats finished 14-of-15 from the free-throw line in the game.
Jonathan Hart paced Pembroke with 17 points and eight rebounds while Jarrell Hunter added 13 points.
Lander led 27-23 at halftime and maintained leads of from five to nine points throughout most of the second half. Three-pointers kept the Bearcats safely ahead with Jackson hitting treys to give them leads of 39-31 and 42-34. Davis hit a 3-pointer to keep the Bearcats up by eight, 50-42, at the 8:50 mark.
Only four points were scored over the next six minutes until Griffin's steal and basket gave Lander a 54-44 lead with 2:45 left. Hunter's 3-pointer cut it to 54-47 before Jackson's two free throws made it 56-47 at the 1:40 mark. Jackson hit two more from the stripe, giving the Bearcats a 58-49 lead with 1:03 to go.
Hart's put-back pulled UNCP within seven before Griffin's two free throws pushed the lead back to 60-51 with 48 seconds left. Pembroke turned the ball over and Griffin extended the lead to 11 with two more free throws with 24 seconds remaining. Hunter's 3-pointer pulled the Braves within 62-54 with 18 seconds left. But Lander ran out the clock.
Hunter converted a rare four-point play when he hit a 3-pointer, was fouled and hit the free throw to give Pembroke an 18-9 lead with 7:31 left in the first half. But Evans and Davis sparked the Bearcats to a 15-0 run that turned their nine-point deficit into a 24-18 lead.
Evans started the run with a 3-pointer, then zipped a pass inside to Brenton Harris for a lay-up. Davis hit a tear drop shot inside and then knocked down a 3-pointer to give Lander a 19-18 lead with 3:55 left in the half.
Evans got back into the scoring spree with a 3-pointer off a Davis assist, and Dane Sparrow got a steal and basket to put the Bearcats on top 24-18 at the 2:44 mark. Mark Salazar's jumper ended the streak, but Evans canned his third 3-pointer of the half to make it 27-20 with 1:37 to go. Salazar's 3-pointer cut it to 27-23 at halftime. Evans led all scorers in the first half with nine points.
For the game, Lander hit 20 of 56 shots from the floor (36 percent from the line) and 8-of-33 from behind the 3-point line (24 percent). Pembroke nailed 21-of-52 shots from the floor (40 percent), 7-of-11 free throws (64 percent), and 5-of-17 from behind the arc (29 percent). Lander had a 26-22 edge on the boards.
