GREENWOOD – John Pietkiewicz led four Flagler double-figure scorers with 18 points, helping the Saints hold off the Lander Bearcats 73-69 in a Peach Belt Conference game Saturday at Horne Arena.
Flagler, which had recently upset No. 3 Augusta State in overtime, improved to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the PBC. Lander fell to 6-6 overall, 0-5 in the conference.
Eddie Fowler added 16 points for the Saints, D.J. Ferguson scored all 11 of his points in the second half, and Chad July had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Kenny Moore added nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and Pietkiewicz led Flagler with six assists.
Tovi Bailey did his best to keep Lander in the game, scoring the team's last seven points over the final 1:41. He paced the Bearcats with 19 points and eight assists.
Jermel Kennedy had 12 points and a game-high seven rebounds for Lander, Calvin Liptrot scored 11 points, and Kennedy scored 10 points.
For the game, Lander made 27 of 64 shots from the floor (42 percent), 14 of 16 free throws (88 percent), and one of nine from behind the arc (11 percent).
The Saints had a large 49-31 advantage on the boards while hitting 25 of 63 shots from the floor (40 percent), 14 of 23 free throws (61 percent), and nine of 27 from 3-point range (33 percent).
It was the annual Take a Kid to the Game Day, and children got to shoot baskets and get autographs from the Lander players after the game.
Neither team led by more than seven points in the second half and that large of a difference only happened once when Flagler built a 66-59 lead on Moore's jumper with 3:30 left.
The Bearcats pulled within four, 66-62, on Kennedy's layup with three minutes to go. After Moore hit one free throw for Flagler and each team had scoreless trips, Bailey drove hard to the basket, was fouled and hit two free throws to make it a one-possession game, 67-64, at the 1:41 mark.
Ferguson made two free throws with 1:25 left, but Bailey answered with a driving layup as Lander trailed 69-66 with 1:05 to go.
The Saints made a big play when Andre McFarline missed the front end of a one-and-one, but teammate Fowler soared high for the offensive rebound. Pietkiewicz was fouled and hit two free throws with 50 seconds left, making it 71-66.
Bailey continued to take it upon himself to keep Lander in the game, driving aggressively to the basket again and converting an old-fashioned three-point play, closing the gap to 71-69 with 45.8 seconds to go.
The Bearcats got new life after Ferguson missed both free throws for Flagler and David Pruett grabbed the defensive rebound. Bailey found Stefan Tabasevic open from 3-point range at the top of the key, but his shot hit the side of the rim and Pruett got the offensive board with 22 seconds left.
After a timeout, Bailey made a quick move toward the basket again, but this time his layup hit the side of the rim and Flagler's Moore grabbed the defensive rebound. Bailey then fouled out, sending Moore to the line with 11.4 seconds left. Moore hit both free throws for a 73-69 Saints' lead.
Liptrot tried to score inside for Lander, but McFarline emphatically blocked the ball out beyond the arc where Tabasevic grabbed it, attempted a 3-pointer and missed right before the final buzzer.
Canty's mid-range jumper gave Lander an early 8-5 lead. But Pietkiewicz's 3-pointer tied the game at 8, and he hit another trey and a driving layup to give Flagler a 13-10 lead. McFarline's dunk gave the Saints a 17-12 lead.
The Bearcats exploded for 13 unanswered points including Tabasevic's game-tying 3-pointer and Canty's two baskets, giving Lander a 25-17 lead with nine minutes left in the first half. It would be the largest lead of the game for either team.
Flagler responded with a 10-2 run, including three baskets by July, to tie the game at 27. Moore hit the tying shot with 4:05 left, and Fowler's 3-pointer from the top of the key gave the Saints a 30-29 lead at the 3:30 mark.
Flagler led 34-31 at halftime.
Lander took its first lead of the second half, 37-36, on a basket by Carrier with 17:40 left, and Liptrot's three-point play upped the lead to 40-37 at the 16:43 mark.
Flagler's Ferguson, who had missed his first six shots from the floor, tied the game with a 3-pointer and Pietkiewicz hit a trey from the other side to give the Saints a 43-40 lead with 15:22 left.
The game would continue to go back-and-forth with Lander scoring six straight to lead 46-43, and then Ferguson tying the game again with a 3-pointer to make it 46-all with 13 minutes to go.
The game was tied at 51, 53, and 55, and neither team led by more than two until Jarrod Branco gave Flagler a 58-55 lead with 7:25 left on a 3-pointer from the right corner. July's short jumper pushed the Saints' lead to 61-57 with 6:13 to go.
After Tabasevic scored inside for Lander, Flagler would take its largest lead of the game on Ferguson's third 3-pointer of the second half followed by Moore's basket to make it 66-59 with 3:35 left.
