GREENWOOD – Georgia College & State University had a hot shooting night from 3-point range Monday night and defeated Lander 74-58 in a Peach Belt Conference game at Horne Arena.
The Bobcats (7-3, 1-0 PBC) hit 11 out of 20 shots from behind the arc and cruised to the victory behind Graham Martin’s 17 points, 11 points apiece by Ty Rowland and Andre Mikell, and 10 by Robert Thomas. Georgia College used a 13-0 run in the second half to blow the game open.
Dane Sparrow led Lander (5-6, 0-3) with 16 points, including 10 in the first half. Tovi Bailey added 14 points and Antonio Pope led the team with eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
Josh Hurst led the Bobcats with eight rebounds while Rowland had seven assists.
Jake Rios and Mikell hit three 3-pointers apiece for Georgia College while Martin and Rowland each had two.
Trailing 8-4, Lander scored nine unanswered points on Bailey’s three-point play, Sparrow’s 3-pointer, Curtis Milner’s free throw, and Milner’s jumper to take a 13-8 lead with 12:23 left in the half.
Sparrow’s steal and layup gave the Bearcats their largest lead of the half at 18-11 at the 11:13 mark. But the Bobcats outscored Lander 22-7 the rest of the way for a 33-25 halftime lead.
Martin’s 3-pointer tied the game at 20 and Trent Fildes’ jumper gave the visitors their first lead since early in the game, 22-20, at the 8:16 mark. Rios and Rowland added 3-pointers to help Georgia College build on its first-half lead.
After Bailey hit a 3-pointer in the first minute of the second half for the Bearcats, Georgia College scored seven unanswered capped by Thomas’s three-point play to give the visitors their largest lead of the game at 40-28 with 17:10 to go.
Lander responded with six unanswered points as Bailey capped the rally with a driving layup, which he converted into a three-point play to pull the hosts within 40-34 at the 15:49 mark. That was as close as the game would get.
Georgia College answered with 13 consecutive points including back-to-back 3-pointers by Mikell and another by Rios for a 19-point lead, 53-34, with 13:38 to go.
Jacob Mochoskay hit a 3-pointer for Lander to end the run. But Hurst responded with his own trey while Martin hit two free throws and a 3-pointer to extend the Bobcat lead to 24 points, 61-37, with 9:39 left.
Deangelo Spruill hit a 3-pointer, Bailey and Sparrow made jump shots, and Greg Smalls hit a put-back to close the gap to 16 points, 74-58, at the 2:00 mark. That would be the final score.
For the game, Lander made 22 of 64 shots from the floor (34 percent), eight of 14 free throws (57 percent), and only six of 25 from behind the arc (24 percent).
Georgia College hit 23 of 50 shots (46 percent), 55 percent from behind the arc, and 17 of 24 free throws (71 percent).
The Bobcats committed 14 turnovers while Lander had only 11. Georgia College had a 42-36 edge on the boards.
