GREENWOOD – Jareal Smith scored 28 points, leading the Lander Bearcats to an 81-67 Peach Belt Conference victory over the Flagler College Saints Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

Lander, which has won five of its last six games, improved to 9-6 overall and evened its Peach Belt record at 3-3.

Flagler fell to 8-5, 2-4.

Smith made 10 of 16 shots from the floor, including four of five from both the free-throw line and 3-point range.

Mario Pendarvis added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Bearcats. Michael Panaggio scored 13 points and led Lander with five assists. Dermaine Smith contributed a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Jerrell Oxendine led the Saints with 15 points, Richard Brown added 11 points and Dennis Diaz contributed 10 points. Matt Conway added nine points and six rebounds, while Adam Jones had seven points, seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.

The game featured good ball handling as the Saints committed eight turnovers while Lander only had six turnovers, including one in the first half.

The Bearcats made 28 of 61 shots from the floor (46 percent), 17 of 22 free throws (77 percent) and eight of 16 from 3-point range (50 percent).

Flagler hit 22 of 48 shots (46 percent), 15 of 23 free throws (65 percent) and eight of 27 free throws (30 percent).

Lander had a 39-26 edge on the boards.

The Bearcats had leads of 7-0 and 13-6 in the game's first eight minutes. But Flagler pulled even on Kessler Bell's 3-pointer at the nine-minute mark, making it 16-all.

Lander regained the lead on Jareal Smith's second 3 of the half, followed by Panaggio's layup for a 21-16 advantage with 7:43 left.

Conway hit 3s that pulled the Saints within 27-24 and 30-27. But Lander closed the half with a 9-1 run including a 3-pointer and inside basket by Pendarvis, a basket by Jareal Smith, and a bucket by Panaggio for a 39-28 halftime lead.

Flagler opened the second half with an 8-0 run as the Bearcats missed their first seven shots after the break. Brown's fast-break basket pulled the Saints within 39-36 with 15:22 left.

But Lander pushed its lead back to nine, 45-36 with 13:46 left, after 3s by JR Washington and Jareal Smith. The lead grew to 10 on another Smith basket that made it 47-37 with 12:39 to go.

Mike Lee's steal and layup matched the Bearcats' biggest lead of the game at 51-40 at the 10:41 mark. Meanwhile, Smith stayed hot, knocking down a trey to increase Lander's lead to 55-40 with 9:53 left.

The lead grew to 62-45 on Darius Carrier's dunk and Jareal Smith's three-point play at the 8:31 mark. It would be Lander's largest lead of the game.

But Flagler went on a 13-3 run to get back into the game, including a 3-pointer by Diaz and closed within 65-58 with 4:32 left on Oxendine's basket.

After two Jareal Smith free throws, the Saints drew within six, 67-61, on Brown's 3-pointer with 3:52 to go.

Panaggio's 3 extended Lander's lead to nine. But Jones and Lydell Manigo scored on consecutive possessions as Flagler closed within 70-65 with 2:47 left.

But Jareal Smith hit two more free throws and Dermaine Smith added a steal and fast-break dunk to push the Bearcats lead back to nine, 74-65, at the two-minute mark.

The Saints made two of four free throws to close within seven. But the Bearcats put the game away with an untraditional three-point play that increased the lead to 77-67 with 1:04 left. Jareal Smith made the first free throw but missed the second. Pendarvis grabbed the offensive rebound and put the ball back in for the 10-point lead.

Lander's Washington hit four of four free throws for the game's final points.