GREENWOOD – Senior David Pruett tied his career high of 34 points Saturday afternoon to lead the Lander men's basketball team to a 97-86 Peach Belt Conference victory over Francis Marion on Homecoming Day in Horne Arena.

Lander ends the season at 9-17 overall and 4-15 in the PBC, while FMU drops to 11-15, 6-13.

Pruett connected on 12-of-21 field goals, including 7-of-14 threes. He also sank 3-of-5 free throws and grabbed six rebounds. Jareal Smith added 24 points and five assists in the win, while Scott Elder posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Dermaine Smith had 10 points and seven rebounds.

FMU was led by Chris Rhodes' 24 points, while Evrik Gary had 17 and Dustin Jones 11. Antonio Freeman led the Patriots in rebounds with seven.

Lander connected on 35-of-65 field goals (53.8 percent), including 11-of-25 threes (44 percent) and 16-of-24 foul shots (66.7 percent).

FMU made 30-of-66 floor shots (45.5 percent), including 13-of-35 threes (37.1 percent) and 13-of-19 free shots (68.4 percent).

Lander dominated the boards, outrebounding the Patriots, 53-24.

The Bearcats led the game wire-to-wire, jumping to a 10-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game. While FMU kept the game close for most of the first half and even cut it to one point, 27-26, at 6:48, Lander ended the half with a 20-9 run and 47-35 lead.

The Bearcats led by double figures most of the second half and notched their biggest lead at 23 points – 91-68 with 5:04 left to play – thanks to a 16-0 scoring run.