BLUEFIELD, W.Va. - The Lander men's basketball team shot 57.4 percent from the field and placed four players in double figures Friday night as the Bearcats defeated Bluefield State College, 76-62, in a non-conference game at Ned Shott Gymnasium.

Lander remains unbeaten at 3-0, while the Big Blues drop to 0-2.

Corey Wright led Lander with a game-high 22 points on 10-of-15 field goals and 1-of-2 free throws while dishing off seven assists. David Pruett added 13 points, while Jareal Smith and Dermaine Smith netted 12 points each. Wright and Pruett had five rebounds each for the Bearcats.

Bluefield was led by Simeon Denny's 13 points, while Gary Martin added 12, Johnny Uhegwu 11 and Vincent Rogers 10. Daven Morris grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Lander, which led 37-29 at halftime, connected on 31-of-54 field goals for 57.4 percent, including 5-of-12 threes (41.7 percent). Lander also made 9-of-18 free throws for 50 percent.

BSC made 20-of-59 floor shots for 33.9 percent (7-of-26 threes for 26.9 percent) and downed 15-of-27 foul shots for 55.6 percent.

After trailing 1-0 to start the game, Lander wasted no time taking control and built up its first double-figure lead at 20-8 on a Jamal Branco three pointer with 11:02 left in the half. Of that lead, Wright added nine points, while Jareal Smith and Dermaine Smith each had four points.

Branco's layup at 10:18 stretched the Lander led to 22-8, but the Big Blues trimmed it back to 24-15 on a Rogers layup at 7:43.

Pruett's first three of the game gave Lander a 31-18 advantage with 6:31 left in the first stanza. Bluefield's Gary Martin sank two free throws to cut the Lander lead to 33-24 at 3:59, then Daven Morris' tip-in at 2:14 made it to 33-26.

Jareal Smith dropped in two free throws with 31 seconds left to lift Lander to a 36-27 lead, only to have Bluefield's Uhegwu end the half with a jumper with four seconds left to make it 37-29.

A Dermaine Smith dunk kick-started Lander in the second half as the Bearcats outscored the Big Blues to 17-4 in the opening minutes to open up a 54-33 lead on Jareal Smith's three with 14:14 left to play.

From there, Lander maintained at least a 20-point lead until 1:41 when Avery Holiday's three cut the lead to 76-57.