GREENWOOD – Clayton State used a 34-8 run that spanned two halves, erasing an early 12-point deficit to beat the Lander Bearcats 65-59 in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.
The Lakers improved to 7-7 overall and 3-4 in the Peach Belt. Lander fell to 5-8 and 2-4.
Clayton's Jerome Boyd led all scorers with 17 points, Michael Sloan added 14 points to surpass 1,000 career points, and Ricky Garrett added 11 points.
Zach Evans led Lander with 16 points and five assists, Houston Wright scored 12 points, and Curtis Milner added eight points and four blocked shots. Brenton Harris added a game-high seven rebounds.
The Lakers extended a two-point halftime lead to double figures on Sloan's dunk, making it 41-31 with 14:55 to go. Sloan stole a pass and scored to push Clayton's lead to 14, 45-31, to complete a 34-8 run that started midway through the first half.
Lander fought back with a 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by Evans, closing the gap to 45-38. Sparrow hit two 3-pointers and Wright added one, capping a 16-5 run to pull the Bearcats within 50-47.
Clayton extended its lead to 56-49 before baskets by Wright and Ford “Scooter” Lawrence pulled Lander within a basket at 56-53. But after about a two-minute period where one Clayton free throw was the only point, Sloan's two free throws pushed the Lakers back up 59-53 with 1:56 left. The first of those free throws gave the senior guard 1,000 career points.
Wright's basket closed Lander's gap to 60-55 with 1:09 to go. After a Lakers free throw, Milner scored inside to make it 61-57 with 57 seconds to go. Sloan hit two free throws with 40 seconds left, then Evans drove in for a lay-up to make it 63-59 with 27 seconds to go.
Bernard Fields and Armel Traore Dit Nignan hit one free throw apiece to close out Clayton's win.
The Bearcats hit five early 3-pointers to build a 23-11 lead with 9:45 left in the opening half. Lawrence hit two 3-pointers during the run while Wright, Evans and Justin Mann made one apiece.
Clayton State responded with a game-tying 12-0 run, including Boyd's three-point play and Sloan's 3-pointer. Sloan's dunk off a steal by Fields capped the run, tying the game at 23 with 5:13 left.
Darius Johnson scored Lander's final points of the first half with an offensive rebound basket, giving the Bearcats a 25-23 lead at the 4:50 mark. Boyd's jumper tied the game at 25 with 2:21 left and the Lakers grabbed a 27-25 halftime lead on Garrett's dunk off Traore Dit Nignan's pass at the buzzer.
Lander had only two points in the final 9:45 of the half, missing nine of 10 shots during that span. The Lakers closed the half on a 16-2 run and scored the first four points of the second half to complete a 20-2 run.
For the game, the Bearcats made 23 of 53 shots from the floor (43 percent), four of four free throws (100 percent), and nine of 25 from 3-point range (36 percent). Clayton hit 24 of 51 shots (47 percent), 15 of 25 free throws (60 percent), and two of nine from behind the arc (22 percent). Each team had 31 rebounds.
