GREENWOOD – The Lander men's basketball team is off to its first 4-0 start since the 1995-96 season after beating the College of Coastal Georgia 84-76 behind Tobiasz Hose's 21 points Tuesday night at Horne Arena.

While the Bearcats improved to 4-0 on the season, the Mariners from Brunswick, Ga., fell to 3-5.

Hose made six of 13 shots from the floor and eight of nine free throws to pace Lander in the scoring column.

Mike Lee added 16 points, including eight of 10 free throws, for the Bearcats. JR Washington scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half while Ricardo Martin added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Asger Hjorth came off Lander's bench to add eight points including three dunks and six rebounds. Alen Hardy also scored eight points and led the Bearcats with seven assists. Hose added eight rebounds while Washington had seven boards and six assists.

Reggie Burke led Coastal Georgia with 18 points, four assists and three steals. Corey Harris added 13 points for the Mariners while Milton Geddes and Darrean Wyatt led them with seven rebounds.

Lander made 27 of 62 shots from the floor (44 percent), 26 of 38 free throws (68 percent) and four of 17 from 3-point range (24 percent) while outrebounding the Mariners 49-35.

Coastal Georgia hit 25 of 62 shots (40 percent), 16 of 24 free throws (67 percent) and 10 of 25 from behind the arc (40 percent).

Clinging to a 37-34 lead early in the second half, Lander went on a game-breaking 17-2 run. Washington, who hit a 3 at the start of the second half, started the run with a basket and two of two free throws. Washington then provided a pair of assists, both to Hjorth who had a dunk and a layup.

Hose converted a three-point play, Martin turned a steal into a breakaway dunk, and Hose drove inside for a layup, giving the Bearcats a 54-37 lead at the 13-minute mark.

After Lander's lead shrunk to 54-41, Hardy had a breakaway layup and then got a pass inside to Hjorth for his third dunk of the game, and Hose added a basket to make it 60-43 with 10:49 left.

But the Mariners shrunk their deficit into single digits with a 12-4 run, starting with Michael Matta's 3. Obie Foreman made two free throws, pulling Coastal Georgia within 64-55 with 7:45 remaining.

The Bearcats answered the challenge with Lee making a 3, and Sergio Smith coming off the bench to score twice pushing their advantage to 73-57 with 5:49 to go.

But Coastal Georgia scored the game's next 10 points, including Foreman's three-point play and 3s by Andrew Reid and Burke to make it 73-67 inside the four-minute mark.

Matta's steal and layup closed the Mariners within 76-71 with 2:16 to go.

Lander responded to the challenge once again, with Hose hitting a baseline jumper, Hardy making a fast-break layup and Hose swishing one of two free throws for an 81-71 lead with 1:13 left.

Burke's 3 cut Coastal's deficit to 82-76 with 16 seconds to go. But Lee hit a pair of free throws to clinch the win.

Burke and Wyatt opened the game with 3s, staking the Mariners to an 8-2 lead.

But Lander used a 14-1 run to turn the six-point deficit into a 16-9 advantage. Hose and Lee had 3-pointers, Washington hit a layup, and Hjorth dunked Washington's missed layup attempt during the run.

Martin scored twice during a 9-2 Bearcats run that extended their lead to 29-16 with 7:19 left, representing their largest advantage of the first half.

But the Mariners went on a 12-1 run including 3s by Harris and Hunter DeRuiter, pulling the visitors within 30-28 with 1:35 left until halftime. Lander led 34-30 at the break.