GREENWOOD – Jareal Smith scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half and Michael Panaggio opened the second half with eight points in a row, helping the Lander Bearcats pull away from Allen University 85-60 Tuesday night in a non-conference men's basketball game at Horne Arena.

Lander, which outscored the Yellow Jackets 42-13 during a 15-minute stretch of the second half, improved to 3-3. Allen fell to 1-7.

Lander improved to 18-0 all-time against Allen.

Smith hit six of 10 shots from the floor, including four 3-pointers, and eight of 11 free throws to lead the Bearcats.

Panaggio added 15 points and seven assists for Lander while Denzel Myers scored 10 points. Alen Hardy led the Bearcats with eight rebounds. Dermaine Smith added nine points and seven rebounds, and Mario Pendarvis contributed nine points and six boards.

Myers (4-for-4) and Dermaine Smith (3-for-3) were a combined 7-for-7 from the floor.

DeAngelo Anthony led the Yellow Jackets with 21 points while Mark Jones added 10 points.

Lander made 28 of 50 shots from the floor (56 percent), 21 of 34 free throws (62 percent) after missing seven in a row at one point in the first half, and eight of 20 from 3-point range (40 percent).

The Yellow Jackets hit 23 of 52 shots (44 percent), 11 of 15 free throws (73 percent) and three of 14 from behind the arc (21 percent).

Lander had a 36-25 advantage on the boards.

After Allen scored the first basket of the second half to pull within 40-38, Panaggio gave the Bearcats a big boost. The point guard scored Lander's next eight points, including a driving layup and a pair of 3s to extend the lead to 48-40 with 16:48 left.

Dermaine Smith's two free throws and Hardy's jumper extended Lander's run to 12-2, building its largest lead of the game at 52-40 with 15:22 to go. But the lead continued to grow from there.

A 3-pointer by Pendarvis from the top of the key increased the lead to 58-42 with 12:25 left, and Hardy's put-back pushed the advantage to 20, 62-42, with 10:40 to go. Hardy scored again for a 66-43 lead at the 9:13 mark.

Myers drove the left base-line for a layup and added a put-back on Lander's next possession, giving the Bearcats their largest lead of the game at 26 points, 71-45, at the seven-minute mark.

The lead grew to 30, 79-49, on Mike Lee's two free throws with 3:49 left.

7-foot-1 Lander freshman Mathew Schulz made a free throw for the first point of his college career, giving Lander an 83-57 lead at the two-minute mark.

Lander took a 6-0 lead in the first minute of the game when Jareal Smith opened with a free throw due to a technical foul on the Allen bench, Panaggio nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing, and Dermaine Smith hit an open jumper in the lane.

The Yellow Jackets pulled within 6-4, 8-6 and 10-8. But Jareal Smith swished a 3 from the right wing and Panaggio made a driving layup, giving the Bearcats a 15-8 lead inside the 15-minute mark.

After Pendarvis scored down low to give Lander a 17-10 lead at the 13-minute mark, Allen came roaring back with a 9-2 run, including three baskets by Jones, tying it at 19-all with eight-plus minutes to go.

The Bearcats had opportunities to regain the lead but missed several free throws, leaving them one for their first eight at the line. With 6:19 left, the visitors took their first lead of the game on a basket by Jones to make it 21-19.

Lander regained the lead, 22-21 with 5:39 left, when Jareal Smith hit an open 3-pointer from the right side off Hardy's kick-out pass, giving the team its first points in five minutes.

A Myers put-back of a teammate's missed free throw, and a Jareal Smith layup pushed the Bearcats lead to six, 27-21. But Allen came back again, drawing within 27-26 on Derick McCord's basket at the four-minute mark.

After Anthony's second trey cut the Yellow Jacket deficit to 31-29, Jareal Smith helped push Lander's lead back up to eight with a pair of 3s. The second trey, with the shot clock down to one second, gave the Bearcats a 39-31 lead with 1:11 left.

But Anthony hit another 3-pointer with 13 seconds to go, pulling the Yellow Jackets within 40-36 at halftime.