GREENWOOD - No. 12-ranked Augusta State got off to a fast start in each half, pulling away from Lander 71-49 in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
The Jaguars swept the season series, improving to 18-4 overall and 13-2 in the Peach Belt. The Bearcats fell to 9-12 overall and 6-8 in the PBC.
Augusta State is ranked No. 1 in the South Atlantic Region poll and is fighting rival USC Aiken for the Peach Belt regular season championship.
Tyrekus Bowman and Ben Madgen led the Jaguars with 15 points apiece while Garret Siler added 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Houston Wright was the only Lander player scoring in double figures, netting 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor. Travis Allison led the Bearcats with seven rebounds while Curtis Milner had two blocked shots.
Augusta State shot very well, making 28 of 54 shots from the floor (52 percent), seven of eight free throws (88 percent), and eight of 18 from 3-point range (44 percent).
Lander struggled from the floor, making 17 of 61 shots (28 percent), eight of 15 free throws (53 percent), and only seven of 33 from behind the arc (21 percent). The Jaguars had a 38-36 edge on the boards.
Augusta buried the Bearcats early, building a 13-1 lead before Lander finally had its first field goal of the game by Wright with 12:12 left in the first half. The Bearcats missed their first six shots and 10 of their first 11 attempts from the floor as Augusta built its lead to 18-3 on Daniel Dixon's 3-pointer at the 9:47 mark.
After Wright's 3-pointer pulled Lander within 18-6, the Jaguars scored six unanswered points to built their largest lead of the half at 24-6 on Siler's jumper with 5:28 left. But the Bearcats stormed back, getting 3-pointers from Justin Mann, Zach Evans, Allison and Wright to close the gap to 26-18 with 2:48 to go.
Siler's dunk and lay-up pushed Augusta's lead back to double figures at 30-18. But Wright closed a strong first half with a three-point play in the final seconds, making it 30-21 at halftime. Wright was 4-for-4 from the floor and had 11 points in the first half, while Siler had 10 for the Jaguars on 4-of-5 shooting.
Like the first half, Augusta State also got off to a fast start in the second half. Howard, Madgen and Steve Smith hit 3-pointers, and Bowman and Demetrius Howard converted three-point plays during a 15-2 run that extended the Jaguar lead to 22 points, 45-23, with 16 minutes left in the game.
Augusta State maintained the large lead, again going up by 22 points, 55-33, when Madgen hit a 3-pointer with 12 minutes to go. Bowman's dunk and another Madgen 3-pointer gave the Jaguars their largest lead of the game at 28 points, 67-39, with seven minutes left.
Lander scored the final five points of the game on a Scottie Smith basket and Garry Jones 3-pointer for the final margin of 22 points.
