GREENWOOD – Seventh-ranked Augusta State outscored Lander 26-13 over the final 11 minutes, beating the Bearcats 78-60 in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
The Jaguars improved to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in the Peach Belt. Lander fell to 7-4, 3-2.
Fred Brathwaite led Augusta with 20 points and nine rebounds, Ben Madgen had 17 points and five assists, seven-foot center Garret Siler scored 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting, and Daniel Dixon hit three important 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 14 points.
Houston Wright paced the Bearcats with 18 points, Greg Smalls scored 11 points, and Brenton Harris added 10 points. Wright and Smalls led the team with seven rebounds apiece.
Lander started out firing from behind the arc as Wright nailed two 3-pointers while Dane Sparrow and Smalls had one apiece to help the hosts build a 14-9 lead. Harris followed with a dunk off Ford “Scooter” Lawrence's steal and pass for a 16-9 Bearcat advantage.
Kip Kelley hit Lander's fifth 3-pointer of the night for a 21-16 lead. But Siler scored from close range and Dixon hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 21 at the 7:37 mark. Tye Beal and Madgen followed with 3-pointers while Siler added three free throws to put the Jaguars on top, 30-23, with 4:31 to go.
The Bearcats fought back with Harris scoring twice on offensive rebound put-backs and Jacob Davis hitting a 3-pointer to slice Lander's deficit to 35-32. Augusta scored the final five points of the first half with Jason Killeen's inside basket giving the visitors a 40-32 lead at the break.
While Siler scored Augusta's first five points of the second half with an inside basket and 3-point play, Lander's Wright countered with a pair of 3-pointers as the hosts continued to trail 47-40. Brathwaite's three-point play gave the Jaguars their first double-digit lead at 50-40 with 15:55 left.
The Bearcats closed within 52-47 with 11:13 to go when Lawrence converted a three-point play. But Dixon hit a pair of 3-pointers from the right corner to up Augusta's lead back to nine, 58-49, with nine minutes left.
Another Dixon 3-pointer, Brathwaite's two free throws and dunk, Siler's lay-up, and Madgen's 3-pointer helped give the Jaguars their biggest lead of the game at 73-54 at the 3:30 mark.
Lander made 19 of 59 shots from the floor (32 percent), 14 of 17 free throws (82 percent), and eight of 21 from behind the 3-point line (38 percent). Augusta hit 26 of 50 shots (52 percent), 17 of 24 free throws (71 percent), and nine of 19 from behind the arc (47 percent). The Bearcats had a 37-35 edge on the boards and had 20 turnovers to Augusta' 18.
