GREENWOOD – Lander's Jareal Smith scored 29 points and teammate Chidozie Omile hit five 3-pointers as the Bearcats ended a 10-game losing streak in emphatic fashion, upsetting Peach Belt Conference rival Armstrong Atlantic State 81-62 Thursday night at Horne Arena.

It was Lander's first victory since Jan. 2 when the Bearcats won 76-67 at Columbus State.

Lander improved to 7-14 overall and 2-12 in the PBC. The Pirates fell to 13-8, 9-5.

Jareal Smith hit 12 of 22 shots from the floor, including four 3s, to lead the Bearcats. Dermaine Smith added 18 points, and Omile scored 15 points on five of seven shooting from behind the arc.

Dermaine Smith came close to a triple-double, leading Lander with nine rebounds and eight assists. Scott Elder came off the bench to contribute nine points, seven boards and three blocked shots for the Bearcats.

Lander had 24 assists on 31 baskets.

Antroine Williford led Armstrong with a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Kenny Bellinger II and J.C. Winn added 13 points apiece for the Pirates.

But the stat of the night came from the PBC's leading scorer Aric Miller, who was averaging 25 points per game. Lander held Miller to only two points on an astounding 1-for-18 from the field. Miller had scored 41 points at UNC Pembroke on Feb. 2, and tallied 39 in a victory at USC Aiken Feb. 9. He scored 34 in a 91-80 victory over the Bearcats in Savannah Jan. 10.

Lander hit 31 of 71 shots from the floor (44 percent), nine of 12 free throws (75 percent), and an impressive 10 of 22 from 3-point range (46 percent) with Omile leading the way.

"I wouldn't have been able to hit those shots without my teammates," Omile said. "We knew they (Armstrong) were coming in on a roll. So we prepared well and practiced well. We knew that we had to come out with a lot of effort. We really had to stay together (after a heart-breaking one-point loss at Francis Marion on Saturday)."

"We did a really good job preparing against their trap and did a nice job not turning the ball over and making the extra pass to get good shots," Bearcats head coach Jeff Burkhamer said.

"We had a bunch of guys do some good things for us tonight," Burkhamer added. "We deserved to win the (Francis Marion) game and had the right guy at the line (David Pruett) to win the game and they didn't go down. It's a credit to our players to come back and beat a very good Armstrong team."

Armstrong made 20 of 63 shots from the floor (32 percent), 13 of 22 free throws (59 percent) and nine of 26 from behind the arc (36 percent). The Pirates had a 44-43 edge on the boards.

Lander started quickly with Darius Carrier finding Dermaine Smith inside for a dunk and Jareal Smith hitting 3s on consecutive possessions for an 8-2 Bearcats lead with 17:30 left.

Armstrong pulled within 10-9 when Darius Morales scored at the 15:50 mark and tied it at 12-all on Winn's 3 with 15:18 to go.

Omile's first trey of the game put Lander up 19-15 with 13:45 left, and lead grew to five, 22-17, on Jareal Smith's layup at the 10:36 mark.

Williford's 3 cut Armstrong's deficit to 22-20 with 9:41 to go, and Bellinger's trey tied it at 25-all with 6:10 left.

After Omile's second 3 of the night put the Bearcats back on top 28-25, Winn and Miller scored consecutive baskets for the first Pirates lead of the night, 29-28, with 5:07 to go.

Armstrong led 31-30 on a pair of Morales free throws at the 4:19 mark, but Lander closed the half with a 9-1 run for a 39-32 lead at the break. Jareal Smith made a basket and a 3, Dermaine Smith made a pair of free throws, and Jareal Smith scored again with 15 seconds left to send the Bearcats into the locker room with momentum.

The momentum held into the second half even though Armstrong got within five, 41-36, with 18:28 left on Bellinger's 3.

But the Bearcats took over the game from there. Dermaine Smith scored inside on consecutive possessions, converting a three-point play after the second basket, and then Pruett hit his only 3 of the night a 49-36 lead with 16:46 left.

The Pirates got within single digits only one more time after Winn's dunk and Williford's jumper pulled them within 49-40 at the 15:16 mark. Winn's dunk closed Armstrong within 53-43 with 12:56 to go.

Lander put the game away with a 7-0 run, starting with a basket by Elder inside, Jareal Smith hit a 3, and Elder scored on a put-back for the team's largest lead of the game at 17 points, 60-43, with 10:40 left.

Armstrong got within 14 on three free throws, but Omile stroked his third 3-pointer to make it 63-46 with 7:36 left. Jareal Smith's three-point play and fast-break layup off Mario Pendarvis's assist gave the Bearcats their first 20-point lead of the game at 68-48 with 6:04 to go.

Omile hit two more 3s as Lander had a new largest lead at 22 points, 76-54, with 4:30 to go.