GREENWOOD – Lander's David Pruett, Jermel Kennedy and Tovi Bailey scored a combined 66 points as the Bearcats had an explosive first half and held off Peach Belt Conference rival Francis Marion 90-78 Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
Lander improved to 10-13 overall and 3-12 in the Peach Belt. The Patriots fell to 14-9 overall and 7-8 in the PBC. The Bearcats avenged an overtime loss at Francis Marion earlier this season.
Lander scored 47 points over the final 15 minutes and 22 seconds of the first half, building a 19-point lead. The Patriots rallied within three points late in the game, but the hosts put the game away from the free-throw line. The Bearcats hit 30 of their first 35 free throws and wound up 31 of 41 from the line.
Pruett scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half, Kennedy added 22 points, and Bailey scored 19. Bailey was 11-for-14 from the stripe while Kennedy was 9-for-11.
Quentin Bastian added nine points and eight rebounds for Lander, and Kennedy shared team-high honors with eight rebounds also. Calvin Liptrot and Bailey led the Bearcats with seven assists apiece as the Bearcats had 19 assists on 25 baskets.
Francis Marion was also outstanding from the free-throw line, especially leading scorer Liki Turner who poured in 24 points including 16 of 17 free throws.
Dominique Coleman added 14 points for the Patriots, Andrew Smith scored 13 points, and Shawn Greenfield added 10 points and six assists. Simel Boyd was Francis Marion's top rebounder with seven.
Lander hit 25 of 49 shots from the floor (51 percent), 31 of 41 from the line (76 percent), and nine of 16 from 3-point range (56 percent).
The Patriots were 26 of 59 from the floor (44 percent), 21 of 23 from the line (91 percent), and five of 17 from behind the arc (29 percent). Francis Marion had a 37-28 edge on the boards.
The game was almost five minutes old before Lander finally scored. The Bearcats missed their first seven shots from the floor before Bailey hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 3-all with 15:17 left.
Lander still trailed 8-5 before Bailey once again hit a game-tying 3-pointer, this one at the 13:14 mark.
But the Bearcats were hot the rest of the first half. Kennedy's trey broke a 10-10 tie, Bailey hit two free throws, and Pruett made a 3-pointer to complete an 8-0 run that gave Lander an 18-10 lead with 11:05 to go.
After the Patriots scored, Pruett converted an old-fashioned three-point play and Darion Canty scored to push the Bearcat lead to 23-12.
Coleman hit two 3-pointers, including a four-point play that pulled Francis Marion within 26-21 with 7:15 left.
Kennedy's spectacular alley-oop dunk off a pass from Bailey gave Lander a 30-23 advantage, starting a 10-0 run. Pruett followed with back-to-back treys, and also hit two free throws for a 38-23 lead at the 3:15 mark.
Pruett reached the 20-point mark with two more 3-pointers with 2:13 still left in the opening half, and Kennedy's free throw gave the Bearcats a 19-point lead, 47-28, at the 1:42 mark. It would be the team's largest lead of the night.
Lander led 47-32 at halftime. The Bearcats were 15-for-25 (60 percent) from the floor in the final 15-plus minutes of the first half after their 0-for-7 start.
Bastian and Kennedy had early baskets in the second half that gave Lander 17-points leads at 49-32 and 51-34. The Bearcats led 53-37 with 18:12 left, but Francis Marion scored nine unanswered points to pull within seven, 53-46, at the 16:05 mark. Turner had four free throws and Greenfield a 3-pointer during the Patriots' run.
Lander scored six unanswered points including Pruett's sixth 3-pointer of the night to extend the lead to 59-46 with 13:48 to go, and Bastian's dunk off a pass from Canty made it 61-48.
But Francis Marion cut its 13-point deficit down to nine twice, and Boyd's jumper at the 9:41 mark closed the Patriots within seven, 65-58. Twenty-four seconds later, Coleman hit one of two free throws to cut it to six.
Bailey twice gave Lander eight-point leads with two free throws and a jumper from the free throw line, but Evrik Gary hit a 3-pointer as Francis Marion had its narrowest deficit of the second half at 69-64 with 7:52 to go.
And the Patriots kept pushing. After Lander's Kennedy converted a three-point play, Boyd and Turner scored inside to pull Francis Marion within 74-70 with 5:48 left.
Turner answered two Kennedy free throws with a basket to close the Patriots within four points again at 76-72. But Kennedy hit one of two free throws, and after a Francis Marion turnover, Liptrot hit a jumper as the shot clock was expiring to give the Bearcats a 79-72 advantage at the 3:35 mark.
But Julious Bryant scored inside and Turner hit two free throws as the Patriots pulled within a possession for the first time since early in the first half, 79-76, with 2:24 to go.
Lander worked the shot clock and Liptrot missed a shot, but Kennedy grabbed an important offensive rebound to keep the possession alive, Bailey was fouled, and hit two free throws for an 81-76 lead at the 1:46 mark.
The Bearcats extended their lead when Bastian rebounded Gary's miss, was fouled in the back-court and hit both free throws to increase Lander's advantage to seven, 83-76, with 1:30 to go.
Pruett added two free throws, Bailey got a steal, and added two more free throws to give the Bearcats a double-digit lead at 87-76 with 51 seconds left.
