GREENWOOD – Lander's David Pruett scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and teammate Corey Wright hit the game-winner with 2.5 seconds left, lifting the Bearcats to a crucial 74-72 victory over Augusta State Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

The win ended Lander's 10-game losing streak to the Jaguars and clinched a spot in next week's Peach Belt Conference Tournament as at least the fourth seed in the PBC's East Division.

The Bearcats improved to 17-8 overall and 10-7 in the Peach Belt.

Augusta State fell to 15-10 overall and 11-6 in the league.

Lander can clinch third place in the East if it can beat UNC Pembroke Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena. Pembroke is 11-6 in the conference.

Wednesday's game had five ties and 14 lead changes, with the Bearcats coming out on top thanks in part to 57 percent shooting from the floor.

Pruett led Lander with 21 points, making four of four 3s in the second half. Wright added 16 points and nine assists, hitting six of eight shots from the floor including the winning basket.

Dwight Tolbert added 13 points for the Bearcats, Jermel Kennedy scored 12 points, and Dennis Rumph added eight points while leading Lander with eight rebounds.

Freshman Devonte Thomas led the Jaguars with a career-high 27 points, including five of nine 3s. His previous career high was 22 points earlier this month at UNC Pembroke.

Devon Wright-Nelson scored 16 points for Augusta, Harold Doby added 14 points while leading the team with eight boards, and O'Neal Armstrong added 11 points and five assists.

The Bearcats made 25 of 44 shots from the floor (57 percent), 17 of 22 free throws (77 percent), and seven of 17 from 3-point range (41 percent).

Augusta hit 29 of 60 shots (48 percent), six of nine free throws (67 percent), and eight of 18 from behind the arc (44 percent).

Lander trailed 69-65 with less than two minutes left when Pruett went to work. He was fouled in the act of shooting behind the arc, in the left corner, and made two of three free throws to pull the Bearcats within two.

After Augusta missed a shot, Tolbert grabbed the defensive board and found Pruett open on the right wing for his fourth 3-pointer of the game, giving Lander a 70-69 lead with 1:24 to go.

Augusta's Doby made one of two free throws with 54 seconds left to tie it at 70-all.

Pruett answered again, this time with an assist. The junior drove inside, passed off to his right to Rumph, who swished a baseline jumper to give the Bearcats a 72-70 lead with 25.6 seconds to go.

Needing two points to tie, the Jaguars' Armstrong held the ball outside, then took off toward the basket and laid the ball too high off the glass. But Augusta kept the possession alive on a tie-up and called time out with 10 seconds left.

Thomas was fouled on the inbounds play and hit both ends of a one-and-one to tie it at 72-all with 10 seconds left.

Wright responded by taking the ball across mid-court and driving all the way toward the basket, making a quick cut inside and laying the ball off the glass and in with 2.5 seconds left for what would stand as the game-winner.

Kennedy intercepted Wright-Nelson's long inbounds pass to seal the victory.

Early in the game, Augusta made its first four shots and built a 10-4 lead. But the Bearcats scored 10 unanswered points including Wright's three-point play, five free throws, and Rumph's goal-tending basket to take a 14-10 advantage at the 15-minute mark.

The Jaguars ended a run of six consecutive missed shots when Travis Keels flushed an offensive rebound for a dunk, and Wright-Nelson's jumper tied the game at 14 with 13:23 to go.

But Lander went on another run, this one 11 unanswered points, including Wright's two fast-break baskets and a 3, giving the hosts a 25-14 lead at the 10-minute mark.

Augusta scored the game's next nine points with Keels hitting a jumper in the paint to cut its deficit to 25-24 with 6:30 to go.

Rumph's basket ended the Bearcats' four-minute scoring drought, starting another long run of nine unanswered points including Pruett's dunk off Tolbert's long tip-out of a defensive rebound for a 33-24 lead at the 4:15 mark.

Then it was Augusta's turn as Thomas's 3 from the right corner capped a 7-0 run pulling the Jaguars within 33-31 with 2:19 left.

Lander led 35-33 at halftime.

Augusta moved in front in the first minute of the second half when Armstrong banked a long 3 as the shot clock was expiring, then Thomas scored on the team's next possession for a 38-35 lead with 18:23 to go. Tolbert and Thomas traded 3s, and the Jaguars led 41-40 with 17:16 left.

Tolbert and Thomas would again trade 3s, resulting in a 46-all tie at the 15:30 mark.

The lead changed hands several times over the next few minutes with Wright-Nelson's basket giving Augusta a 49-48 lead, Pruett's second 3 in a row off Wright's steal putting Lander up 52-50, then Thomas hitting his fifth trey of the game as the Jaguars were back up, 53-52, with 11:27 left.

The trend continued with Tolbert's free throws moving the Bearcats back ahead, and Doby's three-point play putting Augusta in front, 56-54, at the 9:57 mark. Doby's dunk increased the lead to four and Pruett answered with his third 3, pulling Lander within 58-57 with 9:17 left.

Thomas's two free throws gave the Jaguars a 64-61 lead with 5:55 to go. Pruett again brought the Bearcats within one, with a jump shot inside the arc with 5:04 left.

Wright's jumper gave Lander a 65-64 advantage with 4:08 left, the team's first lead since the 11-minute mark. But Armstrong's basket gave the lead back to Augusta, 66-65, with 3:10 to go. After a Bearcats turnover, Armstrong's 3 from the right corner gave the visitors a 69-65 lead.