GREENWOOD - Dane Sparrow surpassed the 1,000 career points milestone with 18 points and the Lander Bearcats survived a wild final minute to edge Clayton State 63-60 in a Peach Belt Conference game Thursday night at Horne Arena.

Lander improved to 10-12 overall and 5-9 in the Peach Belt. The Lakers fell to 12-10, 5-7.

Tovi Bailey added 11 points while Brenton Harris and Sparrow led the Bearcats with seven rebounds apiece. Harris also scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and blocked three shots.

Timothy Downs led Clayton State with 18 points, Robert Murry scored 12 points, and Armon Jones grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

Bailey's three-point play put the Bearcats on top, 59-57, with 2:36 to go. But Clayton regained the lead, 60-59, on a 3-pointer from the left side by Downs at the 2:15 mark.

Lander regained the lead, 61-60, with 1:15 left when Bailey made a driving lay-up off Darius Johnson's steal in the paint.

Clayton's Brandon Robinson missed a 3-pointer from the left side, but Murry scrapped for an offensive rebound to keep the ball in Clayton's possession. But with 20 seconds left, Robinson missed a short jumper and Antonio Pope rebounded and was fouled. That started a string of missed free throws and offensive rebounds.

Pope made one free throw for a 62-60 lead with 17 seconds left and missed the second. But Harris grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled. But he missed both free throws. And when it appeared the Lakers would secure the rebound, Pope took it away from them, Sparrow was fouled with six seconds to go and made one free throw for a 63-60 lead.

Downs hurried down the floor for Clayton, needing a 3-pointer to tie. But his shot hit the front of the rim at the buzzer.

Sparrow's 1,000th career point came at the 17:15 mark when he hit a jumper to give Lander a 6-2 lead. Robinson's 3-pointer tied the game at 7. But it was one of the few shots that the Lakers made early in the game as they were four of their first 24 attempts from the floor.

Lander took advantage of Clayton's cold shooting, building an eight-point lead, 22-14, on Harris's basket with six minutes left in the half. The Bearcats again led by eight, 24-16, when Harris scored in the paint off a pass from Pope.

But the Lakers heated up, scoring seven unanswered points, pulling within 24-23 when Luvonte Rhines hit a 3-pointer with 3:35 left. Clayton's Jaquas Dobbs tied it at 25 with two free throws at the 2:35 mark. After Sparrow hit a 3-pointer to give Lander a 28-25 lead, Robinson and Downs scored to give the Lakers their first lead of the game at 29-28 with 1:30 to go.

Downs hit a 3-pointer to give Clayton a four-point lead, 32-28. And after Lander's Sparrow and the Lakers' Murry traded baskets, Bailey hit an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull the Bearcats within 34-33 at halftime.

The lead changed hands several times early in the second half with Harris scoring and Pope converting a three-point play to give Lander leads of 35-34 and 38-37. Clayton regained the lead in each case on three-pointers by Robinson and Downs.

The Lakers had leads of 42-39 and 44-41. But the Bearcats took off with a 12-0 run starting with Da'Shon Barrino's driving lay-up with the shot clock winding down. Sparrow followed with a 3-pointer to give Lander a 46-44 lead with 13:30 left, and Sparrow added two free throws for a four-point lead, 48-44, at the 11:49 mark. Johnson added a free throw, Greg Smalls scored on a put-back, and Smalls made a lay-up off a long pass from Barrino to give the Bearcats a 53-44 advantage at the 9:47 mark.

Downs ended Clayton's six-minute scoring drought with a basket in the paint to pull the visitors within seven, 53-46. The Lakers missed a chance to pull within a possession when Robinson was fouled from 3-point range and made only one of three free throws, making it 55-50. But Murry converted a three-point play to close Clayton with 55-53, Torrin Green's lay-up tied it, and the Lakers took a 57-55 lead on Eric Wilson's driving  lay-up with 3:45 left to complete a 13-2 run.

Lander made 23 of 50 shots from the floor (46 percent), 14 of 26 free throws (54 percent), and three of 10 from 3-point range (30 percent).

Clayton hit 20 of 58 shots (35 percent), 14 of 18 free throws (78 percent), and six of 18 from behind the arc (33 percent).

Lander had a 39-36 edge on the boards. The Bearcats committed 12 turnovers to Clayton's nine.