GREENWOOD - The Lander men's basketball team held off a furious Voorhees rally Tuesday night to defeat the Tigers, 80-72, in a non-conference game in Horne Arena.
Lander remains unbeaten at 2-0, while Voorhees slips to 3-4.
Calvin Liptrot and Quentin Bastian both recorded double-doubles to lead the Bearcats. Liptrot posted 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Bastian had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Jermel Kennedy added 19 points and seven rebounds in the victory, while Darion Canty added 15 points.
Voorhees was led by Sam Dotson, who scored a game-high 23 points and had six rebounds. Cyrus Green added 16 points and six rebounds, and Antwan Carter scored 12 points with seven rebounds.
After leading by as many as 21 points in the second half -- 52-31 with 14:35 left -- the Tigers gradually cut Lander's lead to 60-52 with 9:08 left. Lander built the lead back up to 13 points at 65-52 with 7:20 remaining on a Liptrot three-point play and a Kennedy jumper.
A Liptrot three gave Lander a 70-58 lead with 6:23 left, but Voorhees' Carter made three free throws, Dotson added a three, and Green a jumper to trim the Bearcats' lead to 72-66 with 2:48 left. With 12 seconds remaining, Carter made it 77-72 with a jumper, but Lander finished the game with a Liptrot free throw and two more by Kennedy.
Lander opened the game with 10-4 run, before Voorhees rallied to tie it up at 10-all at the 15:07 mark. The Bearcats then outscored the Tigers, 8-1, to push the lead to 18:11 with 11:20 left in the half.
Again, Voorhees rallied to tie the game at 23-23 with 6:02 remaining, but Lander finished the half with a 13-3 run for a 36-26 halftime lead.
Lander, which led 36-26 at halftime, connected on 29-of-66 field goals for 43.9 percent, 5-of-14 threes for 35.7 percent, and 17-of-29 foul shots for 58.6 percent.
Voorhees was 27-of-80 from the floor for 33.8 percent, including 9-of-36 from the three-point line for 25 percent. The Tigers also made 9-of-13 free throws for 69.2 percent.
Lander will host Erskine College at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 20, in a non-conference game in Horne Arena.
