AIKEN, S.C. - The ninth-seeded Lander men's basketball team, led by Zach Evans' 17 points, advanced to the second round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Wednesday night when the Bearcats defeated eighth-seeded Francis Marion, 68-53, in the USC Aiken Convocation Center.

Lander, which snaps a seven-game losing streak and improves to 10-18 overall, will face top-seeded USC Aiken at 7 p.m., Friday. Francis Marion ends its season at 12-16.

Evans, who made only 3-of-11 floor shots, was 10-of-12 from the free throw line and also had three assists. Ford "Scooter" Lawrence added 11 points, while Scottie Smith netted 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Brenton Harris led all rebounders with 13.

FMU was led by Sam Smith's game-high 20 points. Houston Power added nine points for the Patriots and Kevin Clark eight.

Lander, which led 35-21 at halftime, connected on 19-of-45 field goals for 42.2 percent, including 7-of-14 three pointers for 50 percent. The Bearcats were also 23-of-29 from the free throw line for 79.3 percent. Lander also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding FMU, 41-26.

The Patriots were 18-of-52 from the field for 34.6 percent, including 3-of-17 three pointers for 17.6 percent. FMU made 14-of-21 free throws for 66.7 percent.

The two teams traded leads several times in the opening minutes of the game and were tied three times before Lander took a 12-9 lead on a Dane Sparrow three pointer with 13:57 left in the half.

Lander never trailed afterwards.

The Bearcats' largest lead of the first half was 16 points when Lawrence's three pointer with 25 seconds left gave Lander a 35-19 lead.

FMU outscored Lander, 5-2, in the first two minutes of the second half to cut the lead to 37-27 and were able to trim the Bearcat lead to six points, 57-51, with 3:33 remaining.

Lander outscored the Patriots 11-2 over the final three minutes.