GREENWOOD – Brenton Harris was two assists shy of a triple-double and Dane Sparrow scored 20 points, leading the Lander Bearcats to a 100-81 non-conference victory over Allen University Monday night in a makeup game at Horne Arena.
Lander, with its third straight win, improved to 11-12 while Allen dropped to 8-17. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday but was postponed due to snow. Lander has never lost to the Yellow Jackets in their all-time series, improving to 15-0 against the team from Columbia.
Greg Smalls added 18 points for the Bearcats while Harris had 13 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Smalls was 7-for-10 from the floor while Sparrow was 6-for-8, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Da'Shon Barrino added seven assists for Lander.
Allen's Bryon Littlejohn was the game's leading scorer with 24 points, hitting eight 3-pointers out of 14 attempts. Chavis Darby added 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds, Demetrice Terrell scored 12 points, and Morton Dowdy added 11 points.
Lander shot well from the floor the whole game, making 35 of 62 shots (56 percent). The Bearcats had assists on 28 of their 35 baskets, including 17 of 19 in the first half.
The Bearcats built a 15-6 lead in the first five minutes of the game, including Sparrow's game-opening three-point play, Darius Johnson's two baskets and two free throws, and Antonio Pope's dunk off a turnover. Three-pointers kept Allen in the game, with Littlejohn hitting the team's first three and Karim Rodriguez adding one to pull the Yellow Jackets 17-12.
Smalls hit three baskets to spur a 10-1 Lander run, giving the hosts a 27-13 lead with 10:30 left. Harris slam dunked a perfectly-executed alley-oop pass from Barrino for a 31-18 lead with 9:20 to go.
After Littlejohn hit his fourth 3-pointer of the half to pull the Yellow Jackets within 31-21, the Bearcats scored 18 unanswered points for a 49-21 lead. The run included two 3-pointers and two free throws by Sparrow, a 3-pointer and basket by Smalls, an old-fashioned three-point play by Pope, and a lay-up by Tovi Bailey.
Antonio Young's two free throws pushed Lander past the 50-point mark, making it 51-23, with 4:19 still left in the opening half. The Bearcats led 56-38 at halftime behind 19-of-30 shooting from the field (63 percent). Sparrow (13 points), Smalls (11 points), Pope (9 points) and Harris (8 points) were a combined 16-for-20 from the floor in the first half.
Allen pulled within 15 points, 64-49, on Darby's lay-up at the 15:10 mark. Curtis Milner's put-back with 13:16 left pushed Lander's lead back to 20, 70-50, as part of an 11-0 run. Barrino's layup ended the run, making it 77-50 with approximately 12 minutes left. Smalls hit a 3-pointer as the Bearcats hit the 80-point mark with 10:20 to go.
Barrino's two free throws gave the Bearcats a 91-67 lead with 5:27 left.
Lander hit the 100-point mark in spectacular fashion when Jacob Mochoskay dunked an alley-oop pass from Deangelo Spruill, making it 100-76 with 1:50 to go.
While shooting 56 percent from the floor, Lander made 23 of 30 free throws (77 percent) and seven of 14 from 3-point range (50 percent). Allen hit 28 of 60 shots (47 percent), 15 of 22 free throws (68 percent), and 10 of 22 from behind the arc (46 percent).
Each team had 14 turnovers. The Bearcats had a 40-28 edge on the boards.
