COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Lander men's basketball team used a 23-8 run early in the second half and 62 percent field-goal shooting to pull away from Columbus State, 86-77, Saturday afternoon in a Peach Belt Conference game at the Lumpkin Center.

Lander improves to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the PBC, while CSU falls to 2-5, 0-1.

Houston Wright led the way for Lander with a game-high 22 points and five rebounds. Wright connected on 8-of-12 field goals and 5-of-9 free throws. Ford Lawrence added 16 points and six rebounds, while Darius Johnson had 14 pooints and eight rebounds and Curtis Milner 12 points.

The Cougars were led by Nick Gagnon's 15 points. Sean Miller added 14 points for CSU, while Carlos Wright netted 13 and Chris Telesford 12 points and six rebounds.

Lander led 38-33 at halftime after connecting on 16-of-31 shots for 51.6 percent. The Cougars, who only shot 26.5 percent, stayed in the game the first 20 minutes by making 11-of-19 free thows for 57.9 percent.

The Bearcats achieved their biggest lead of the first half at 29-19 when Lawrence connected on a jumper at the 3:09 mark.

Lander's 23-8 second-half run led to a 61-41 lead at 13:27 when Kevin Kelley netted a three-point shot.

For the game, Lander made 31-of-50 field goals for 62 percent, including 9-of-20 for 45 percent, and 15-of-23 free throws for 65.2 percent.

CSU was 27-of-66 from the floor for 40.9 percent, 5-of-26 three pointers for 19.2 percent and 18-of-29 foul shots for 62.1 percent.