DUE WEST - Dwight Tolbert, the reigning Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week, netted a game-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Tuesday night to lead the Lander men's basketball team to a 63-58 non-conference victory over Erskine College.

Lander improves to 4-2 overall, while Erskine drops to 1-5.

Tolbert connected on 9-of-19 field goals, including 3-of-7 threes and 6-of-6 free throws. Corey Wright added 11 points and six assists and Jermel Kennedy had 10 points and five rebounds. Darion Canty contributed seven rebounds.

Erskine was led by Corey Sorrell's 24 points and six rebounds and was the Fleet's only player in double figures. Sorrell connected on 7-of-14 field goals, including 2-of-6 threes and 8-of-8 from the foul line.

For the game, Lander connected on 20-of-49 field goals for 40.8 percent, including 5-of-19 threes for 26.3 percent. The Bearcats were 18-of-22 from the foul line for 81.8 percent.

The Fleet made 20-of-50 floor shots for 40 percent, including 5-of-23 treys for 21.7 percent. Erskine was 13-of-17 from the free throw line for 76.5 percent.

After trailing 31-30 at halftime, Lander immediately took a 34-32 lead on jumpers by Wright and Tolbert.

Erskine came right back and regained the lead at 35-34 on Mike Gabbard's three pointer at 18:39 then made it 39-34 on a pair of Sorrell free throws and a Nolan Meyer bucket.

The Bearcats retaliated with a Tolbert field goal, four free throws by Wright and a Darius Carrier jumper to regain the upper hand at 42-39 with 15:22 left in the game.

The Flying Fleet bounced back for a 43-42 advantage at 13:12 on Deshaun Hall's jumper, only to have Lander retake the lead at 44-43 on Kennedy's monster dunk.

The two teams traded the lead again on a two-pointer by Hall and a three by Tolbert, then Kennedy's jumper at 10:36 gave the Bearcats the lead for good at 49-45.

Tolbert gave the Bearcats a six-point (51-45) lead at 9:00 when he sank a pair of free throws, which was followed by a Carrier jumper.

The Fleet cut the gap to 53-48 on Corey Sorrell's three, only to have Tolbert answer with a trey of his own to give Lander a 56-48 advantage at 6:11.

Filip Pejovic's three cut the Lander lead to 56-51 at 5:48. Then after another Tolbert basket, the Fleet cut Lander's lead to 58-56 on consecutive field goals by Correll and Gabbard with 4:09 remaining in the game.

Tolbert came through with two free throws at 3:39 to extend Lander's gap to 60-56, then after more than three minutes with neither team scoring, Wright sank two free throws with 33 seconds remaining to give Lander a 62-56 advantage.

Lander will next host Voorhees College at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 10, in Horne Arena in a non-conference contest.