GREENWOOD – Dermaine Smith scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half as the Lander Bearcats overcame an early 12-0 deficit, celebrating Homecoming with a 95-86 victory over Peach Belt Conference rival North Georgia Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

Dermaine Smith was one of three 20-point scorers for Lander as Michael Panaggio and Jareal Smith added 20 points apiece.

The Bearcats improved to 16-10 overall and 10-7 in the Peach Belt. The Nighthawks fell to 11-12, 8-9.

It was the final home game for Bearcat seniors Jareal Smith, Mario Pendarvis, Panaggio and Darius Carrier.

Dermaine Smith made eight of 10 shots from the floor and also led Lander with nine rebounds. Panaggio's 20 points went along with a team-high seven assists, and Jareal Smith's 20 points included a six-for-six effort from the free-throw line.

Travis Core led North Georgia with 19 points and nine rebounds, Ishmael Hollis and Shaquan Cantrell scored 15 points apiece, and Corey Green added 12 points. Hollis and Michael Varrichione led the Nighthawks with seven rebounds apiece.

Each team went 32-for-60 from the floor (53 percent) with Lander making 24 of 33 free throws (73 percent) and seven of 20 from 3-point range (35 percent). North Georgia made 11 of 17 from the line (65 percent) and 11 of 20 from behind the arc (55 percent).

The Nighthawks grabbed a 12-0 lead by hitting their first four attempts from 3-point range, with Lamar Richardson making the first one and Core swishing the next three.

Meanwhile, Lander had missed its first five shots before Jareal Smith put the hosts on the board, making it 12-2 at the 16:18 mark.

Green's inside basket gave North Georgia a 16-5 lead with 14:39 left. But the Bearcats drew within a possession for the first time when they put together a 12-4 run to pull within 20-17 with 11:35 to go. JR Washington and Panaggio hit 3s and Jareal Smith scored twice to highlight the run.

Brian Cole's 3 gave the Nighthawks a 27-19 lead at the nine-minute mark.

Panaggio kept Lander close, hitting baskets to pull the hosts within 27-23 and 29-25. Pendarvis made one of two free throws, closing Lander's deficit to 31-28 with 4:24 left. Mike Lee's 3 from the left corner cut it to 32-31 with 3:54 to go.

Pendarvis gave the Bearcats their first lead of the opening half, 33-32, with 3:08 left when he scored inside. After Richardson's second 3 of the game put the Nighthawks back on top, Lee answered with a trey of his own and Ricardo Martin hit two free throws for a 38-35 Lander lead at the two-minute mark.

Pendarvis's basket in the final minute gave Lander a 42-40 halftime lead.

Dermaine Smith followed up his own miss with a dunk on the first Bearcat possession of the second half, giving Lander its biggest lead of the game at 44-40.

The teams traded four baskets apiece with the Bearcats maintaining their four-point lead, until Dermaine Smith's breakaway dunk pushed Lander's advantage to 54-48 with 14:29 left.

Jareal Smith's steal and layup gave the Bearcats their biggest lead of the game at eight, 61-53, at the 13-minute mark.

Panaggio's layup gave Lander a 70-62 lead with 9:13 left, Carrier's base-line jumper made it 72-64 with 6:35 to go, and Carrier hit a jumper just inside the top of the 3-point circle for a 74-66 advantage at the 5:42 mark.

The Bearcats took their first double-digit lead at 77-66 with 4:34 left when Jareal Smith made a 3. Dermaine Smith made one of two free throws as Lander led 80-71 with 3:20 to go.

But Lander couldn't put the Nighthawks away as they pulled within 80-75 with 2:32 left on a fast-break basket by Hollis, after the Bearcats had missed the front end of a one-and-one and committed a turnover on their previous two possessions.

Dermaine Smith made two free throws for an 82-75 lead at the 2:29 mark. After a North Georgia turnover, Lander milked the clock and although Panaggio missed a floater, Dermaine Smith secured the offensive rebound, was fouled, and made one of two free throws for an 83-75 advantage with 1:44 to go.

Dermaine Smith added another free throw, increasing the lead to 84-77 at the 1:03 mark.

Cantrell's 3 closed the Nighthawks within 84-80 with 51 seconds left.

Jareal Smith and Washington hit two free throws apiece for a seven-point lead. But Hollis made a 3, pulling North Georgia within 88-84 with 25 seconds to go.

Panaggio and Jareal Smith each added two more free throws and Dermaine Smith added one before Dermaine Smith put a punctuation mark on the victory with a reverse dunk with two seconds to go.