GREENWOOD - Tovi Bailey posted a double-double Saturday and five Lander players scored in double figures, helping the Bearcats beat non-conference foe Southern Wesleyan 86-66 and give Jeff Burkhamer his first victory as LU's head coach.
The Bearcats (1-2) opened the second half with a 12-0 run and cruised to the victory at Finis Horne Arena. Southern Wesleyan fell to 5-2.
Bailey had 16 points and 11 assists, Greg Smalls also scored 16 points for Lander on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, Brenton Harris and Kevin Kelley added 12 points apiece, and Dane Sparrow scored 10 points. Kelley hit four 3-pointers while Sparrow added three. Harris also had a game-high eight rebounds and blocked two shots. Curtis Milner blocked three shots for the Bearcats.
Nikola Lambic led the Warriors with 13 points while Nick Lagroone, of Ninety Six, scored 10 points. Tae Roebuck and Damel Wilson led Southern Wesleyan with seven rebounds apiece.
Lander made only three of its first 18 shots from the floor and saw an early 8-2 lead shrink to 9-8 with 11:17 left when Lagroone hit two free throws. But the Bearcats responded when Harris hit a jumper, Kelley made a 3-pointer, Bailey hit two free throws, and Smalls converted an old-fashioned three-point play to complete a 10-2 run, giving Lander a 19-10 lead with nine minutes left in the half.
The Warriors pulled back within four points twice, at 23-19 on Lambic's three-point play at the seven-minute mark, and 25-21 when Lagroone hit two more free throws with 5:46 left. But Kelley and Smalls each hit 3-pointers to help extend Lander's lead back to nine, 32-23, with 5:11 to go.
Roy Hinson's jumper gave the Bearcats their first double-digit lead of the game at 36-25 at the 4:24 mark, and Kelley's third 3 of the half made it 42-30 with 2:11 left. Nathan Wilson's three-point play with 13 seconds left pulled Southern Wesleyan within nine, 44-35, at the intermission. Smalls, Bailey and Kelley had 30 of Lander's 44 first-half points.
Antonio Pope's put-back, Milner's jumper and Sparrow's 3-pointer in the first two minutes of the second half immediately pushed the Bearcat lead to their largest of the game at 16 points, 51-35. Pope scored again, Bailey made a free throw, and Smalls added a basket to extend the lead to 56-35 with 17 minutes to go. Southern Wesleyan's Aramus Smith made a lay-up to end the 12-0 run.
Sparrow's third 3-pointer of the half upped Lander's lead to 23 points, 64-41, with 13:22 left, and Harris's lay-up increased the margin to 24, making it 71-47 under the 10-minute mark. The Warriors were unable to mount a rally as the margin stayed between 19 and 24 points the rest of the way.
For the game, Lander made 32 of 73 shots from the floor (44 percent), 14 of 24 free throws (58 percent), and eight of 20 from behind the 3-point line (40 percent). Southern hit 19 of 57 floor shots (33 percent), 26 of 36 free throws (72 percent), and only two of 17 from behind the arc (12 percent). The Bearcats had a 46-43 edge on the boards. The Warriors committed 25 turnovers to Lander's 20.
