By KREIG WILLIAMS
Sports Information Intern
GREENWOOD - Houston Wright scored a game-high 24 points Saturday afternoon to lead the Lander men's basketball team to a 77-64 win over Allen University in a non-conference game at Horne Arena.
The Bearcats improve to 4-1, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 1-10.
Darius Johnson added 13 points for the Bearcats, while Dane Sparrow had 10 points, and Greg Smalls eight points to go along with eight rebounds. Curtis Milner had a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with seven points and two blocked shots.
Byron Littlejohn led the Yellow Jackets with 14 points, while Martavious Wimberly had 11 points and Jeremy Crawford 10.
In the first half, both teams were able to consistently score against each other, but the Bearcats never trailed during the half. The Bearcats largest lead of the half was 31-21 when Ford “Scooter” Lawrence scored on a jumper with 4:41 remaining.
Wright, who led all scorers with 17 first-half points, netted the Bearcats first seven points of the game. With 11:55 left in the half, Monwell Wylie scored on a dunk to bring the Yellow Jackets within four, 18-14. Smalls brought a roar from the crowd when he countered with a dunk of his own on a pass from Lawrence, pushing the lead 25-19. The Bearcats led at the half 36-29.
In the second half, the Bearcats picked up where they left off by going on a 7-0 run to give them a 43-29 lead with 17:29 to go. Morton Dowdy finally got things going for the Yellow Jackets after driving to the basket and scoring on a continuation play.
With 13:59 left in the half, the Bearcats had built a 15-point lead by going on a 7-0 run, putting them up 59-44, but the Yellow Jackets did not go away easy. With 6:21 to go, Littlejohn gave the Yellow Jackets a spark by scoring on back-to-back three pointers to cut the Lander lead to 65-53.
The Bearcats posted an 18-point lead at 74-56, their biggest of the game with 3:10 remaining on a Johnson put back. The Bearcats never trailed in the contest keeping their undefeated home record intact at 40.
For the game, Lander shot 30-of-67 from the field for 44.8 percent, 10-of-18 from the free throw line for 55.6 percent and 7-of-25 from three-point line for 28 percent.
Allen connected on 23-of-59 from the field for 39.0 percent, including 13-of-23 free throws for 56.5 percent. The Yellow Jackets were 5-of-20 from the three-point line of 25 percent.
Lander claimed 46-37 edge on the boards.
