GREENWOOD – The Lander Bearcats celebrated 40 years of basketball Saturday with many former players, coaches, managers, trainers and statisticians enjoying the 649th victory in program history.
Lander outscored Southern Wesleyan 27-11 over the last nine-plus minutes, defeating the Warriors 91-76 in a non-conference game at Horne Arena.
The Bearcats improved to 2-0 on the season while Southern Wesleyan dropped to 2-5.
After the game, there was a reunion for those to reminisce about their roles in the program between the inaugural 1968-69 season and last year. The participants also met on the court at halftime for a group picture as a resolution was read honoring the program.
Lander won the game from the free-throw line, making 35 of 41 from the stripe. Greg Smalls hit 13 of 16 free throws in the second half and would lead the Bearcats with 23 points.
Lander's Dane Sparrow added 22 points, going 5-for-5 from the stripe in the second half. Houston Wright scored 16 points while Ford “Scooter” Lawrence added 10 points and five assists. Smalls led the Bearcats with eight rebounds while Curtis Milner added four blocked shots.
It was a homecoming of sorts for Southern Wesleyan's top scorer, Nick Lagroone of Ninety Six, who poured in a game-high 28 points. He hit three 3-pointers and 11 of 12 free throws. Byron Wimphrie hit five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points for the Warriors. Kenny Joyner added 14 points and a team-high five rebouunds.
There were several ties and lead changes in the second half. Wimphrie hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Warriors a 65-64 advantage with 9:37 to go, but that would be their last lead of the game.
Smalls gave Lander the lead for good with two free throws with 9:19 left, Wright added two free throws, then Sparrow hit a shot in the lane that bounced high then dropped into the net, was fouled, and converted a three-point play to complete a 7-0 run that gave the Bearcats a 71-65 lead with 8:16 left.
After Lagroone hit another 3-pointer for Southern Wesleyan, Lawrence hit a 3 to push Lander's lead back to six at 74-68. Joyner scored twice to pull Southern Wesleyan within 78-74, but Smalls hit a jumper from the top of the key to push the lead back to six, 80-74, with 3:08 to go.
Smalls got a steal, was fouled, and hit two free throws to give the Bearcats an 82-74 lead at the 2:50 mark. Smalls hit a free throw and Sparrow had a tip-in to extend Lander's lead to its largest of the game at 85-74.
Milner added a blocked shot and two free throws, and Sparrow and Kip Kelley each added free throws down the stretch.
The Bearcats started the game well, building a 12-5 lead with Sparrow and Lawrence each hitting 3-pointers. But Southern Wesleyan scored 11 unanswered points to take a 16-12 edge.
Sparrow's second 3-pointer of the game put Lander back on top, 17-16, with 9:55 left in the first half. But the Warriors stormed back again, building its largest lead of the first half at 24-19.
Wimphrie's 3-pointer at the 5:24 mark gave Southern Wesleyan its last lead of the first half at 27-24. The Bearcats went on a 12-4 run to take a 36-31 lead with Smalls scoring six of those points. Lagroone and Lorenzo Earle each scored in the final minute of the half to pull the Warriors within 36-35 at the break.
Lander scored the first five points of the second half on Wright's three-point play and Sparrow's steal and lay-up. Wright's bank shot gave the Bearcats their largest lead of the game at 45-37.
But Southern Wesleyan responded with an 11-2 run, taking a 48-47 lead with 15:55 left on Wimphrie's second consecutive 3-pointer. There were three ties and two lead changes until Smalls got a steal, was fouled in the act of shooting, and hit two free throws to put the Bearcats up 56-54 with 13:15 left. The lead changed hands several times over the last four minutes.
For the game, Lander hit 25 of 47 shots from the floor (53 percent), 35 of 41 free throws (85 percent), and six of 18 from 3-point range (33 percent). Southern made 25 of 56 shots (45 percent), 17 of 20 free throws (85 percent), and nine of 20 from behind the arc (45 percent). Lander out-rebounded the Warriors 33-25.
