FLORENCE - After forcing the game into overtime, the Lander men's basketball team fell short in its bid to defeat Francis Marion Wednesday night when the Patriots squeezed out a 92-90 Peach Belt Conference victory in the Smith University Center.
FMU improves to 8-2 overall and 2-1 in the PBC, while Lander slips to 6-5, 0-4.
Calvin Liptrot led Lander and tied FMU's Liki Turner for game-high honors with 25 points. Liptrot connected on 9-of-21 field goals and 6-of-10 free throws. Tovi Bailey added 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, while David Pruett had 13 points and six rebounds, and Jermel Kennedy posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Darius Carrier added six rebounds.
Turner led five Patriots in double figures. Andrew Smith added 18, Evrik Gary 13, Dominique Coleman 12 and Shawn Greenfield 10. Simel Boyd grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, while Smith had nine.
Lander forced the overtime when Kennedy dropped in a layup with 52 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 83-83.
In overtime, the two teams tied at 86-, 88-, and 90-all, before FMU's Turner scored the winning basket with 29 seconds left to play.
The Bearcats started the game with a 6-0 run on Bailey jumper, Kennedy three-point play and one Bailey free throw. The Bearcats stretched the margin to 11-4 on a Pruett free throw with 17:03 left in the half, but FMU went on a 12-5 run to tie the scored at 20-20 on a Smith tip-in with 9:55 left.
After Lander got back up to 25-21 at 9:22 on a three by Stefan Tabasevic and a pair of Pruett free throws, FMU came right back and tied the game at 25-25 on a Smith layup.
The two rivals tied two more times before FMU used a 9-2 run to take a 38-31 advantage with 2:29 remaining. Lander ended the half with an 11-4 run when Liptrot tied the game at 42-42 with two free throws.
Francis Marion established a seven-point lead at 58-51 on a Turner jumper with 15:44 left in the game, but, again, Lander rallied back behind Carrier and Kennedy jumpers and a free throw by Liptrot to cut the margin to 58-57 at 13:25.
The Patriots eased back out to a 78-69 margin on a Turner tip-in with 6:15 left, then Lander went on a 12-3 scoring spree to tie the game at 81-81 on a pair of Bailey free throws with 2:54 left.
Lander connected on 33-of-73 field goals for 45.2 percent, including 3-of-14 threes for 21.4 percent. The Bearcats made 21-of-33 free throws for 63.6 percent.
FMU was 34-of-77 from the field for 44.2 percent, including 6-of-25 threes for 24 percent. The Patriots made 18-of-28 foul shots for 64.3 percent.
