GREENWOOD – Devonte Thomas scored 19 points and Harold Doby added a double-double as No. 21 Augusta State beat the Lander Bearcats 73-61 Saturday afternoon in the Peach Belt Conference men's basketball opener for both teams at Horne Arena.

The Jaguars improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the PBC. Lander fell to 4-2, 0-1.

Doby added 18 points, 16 in the second half, and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for Augusta. Devon Wright-Nelson added 12 points and eight rebounds, Travis Keels scored 10 points, and D'Angelo Boyce paced the Jaguars with 10 assists.

Corey Wright led five Bearcats double-figure scorers with 16 points and paced the team with five assists. He went into the game leading all Division II players in assists.

David Pruett and Dermaine Smith added 12 points apiece for Lander, while Jareal Smith scored 10 points. Darius Carrier and Dermaine Smith paced the Bearcats with eight rebounds each.

"We did have a good showing in a lot of areas, but we had too many empty possessions. It was good to see how competitive we were with Augusta. We were within two or three possessions," Lander coach Jeff Burkhamer said.

The Bearcats made 24 of 56 shots from the floor (43 percent), 11 of 19 free throws (58 percent) and two of 16 from 3-point range (13 percent).

Augusta, which shot 56 percent from the floor in the first half, finished 30 of 64 overall (47 percent), made 10 of 23 free throws (43 percent), and three of 16 from behind the arc (19 percent).

The Jaguars had a big edge on the boards, out-rebounding Lander 47-32 including eight offensive boards.

The Bearcats trailed by double figures most of the game. But Pruett's 3 from the right corner cut Lander's deficit to its smallest since late in the first half at 48-41, and Dermaine Smith's basket in the paint closed Lander within 51-43 with 9:51 left.

Pruett's tough shot in the lane cut it to 51-45 at the eight-minute mark and Jamal Branco's off-balance jumper pulled the Bearcats within 55-49 with 6:42 left.

But Augusta extended its lead on a crucial possession where the team missed four shots, but got four offensive rebounds, with Keels finally ending the possession with a tip-in for a 57-49 lead at the 5:17 mark.

Pruett's free throws closed Lander within 59-53 with 4:07 left. But the Jaguars responded again, with Weems zipping a pass inside to Doby for a layup and an eight-point advantage with 3:33 to go.

After a Lander turnover, Doby's basket restored Augusta's double-figure lead again at 10, 63-53, with 2:30 left.

Dermaine Smith's put-back at 2:11 and Jareal Smith's jumper at 1:32 pulled Lander back within six, 63-57. But Thomas hit a big 3 from the right wing and Doby scored inside as the Jaguars began to pull away.

Keels hit a turnaround jumper to stake the Jaguars to a 12-5 lead with 13:28 left in the first half as Lander missed nine of its first 10 shots from the field. But Jareal Smith's layup cut the Bearcat deficit to seven, and Wright made a driving, acrobatic layup to pull Lander within 12-9 with 11:50 to go.

Thomas was fouled in the act of shooting a 3, and made all three free throws, Thomas scored again, and Ryan Weems made a long jumper near the top of the key as Augusta's lead grew to 18-9 at the 10:35 mark.

After an exchange of two baskets apiece, Weems and Wright-Nelson scored on consecutive possessions as the Jaguars doubled their lead to 26-13 at the eight-minute mark.

Thomas's 3 from the left corner increased Augusta's lead to 31-17 with 5:47 to go, and he hit another trey from the right wing to give the Jaguars their largest lead of the first half at 34-19 with 4:46 left.

Pruett made a rare five-point play to cut Lander's deficit to 10, 34-24, with 3:38 left. He was fouled in the act of shooting a 3 and the Augusta bench was also called for a technical foul, giving Pruett five free throws. He swished all five, making him 32-for-35 on the season at the line (he would add two more later and is now 34-for-37).

After Weems made a layup, Lander scored five straight points capped by Wright finding Dermaine Smith streaking to the basket for a thunderous dunk to pull the Bearcats within 36-29 with 1:18 to go.

But Augusta scored the final six points of the half including four by Wright-Nelson, with the help of a blocked shot by Keels, for a 42-29 lead at the break.

During halftime, the 2011-12 Lander women's basketball national Elite Eight team was honored with a Southeast Region championship ring ceremony where all players, coaches and staff received rings.

The Bearcats pulled within single digits, 44-35, with 17:28 left on a basket by Jareal Smith, and had four possessions with a chance to cut their deficit further but misfired. Boyce's jumper extended Augusta's lead back to 11 at the 15-minute mark.

The lead was still 11, 48-37, on Wright-Nelson's layup with 13:24 to go.